Over the last few days there have been a number of inflammatory statements made on social media about the Town Council’s stance towards Seaford Town Football Club’s (STFC) use of The Crouch.

It is important to note The Crouch is a public park and the pitch is not leased or owned by the Football Club; it is hired to them by the Town Council for each daily use.

The Town Council met in September 2023 to discuss requests from STFC for the use of floodlights, to display advertising boards, and to close and lock the gates around The Crouch during match times. Full Council subsequently approved these requests for an initial nine-month period until June 2024, and established a Working Group (WG) of town councillors to further consider these matters and report back to Full Council ahead of June 2024 when the temporary permissions expired.

During 2024 the Town Council was inundated with concerns, complaints and Freedom of Information requests about this situation. These communications continued at a regular frequency and level of intensity until late-summer 2024.

The decision was made to prioritise the handling of these complaints and delay the WG’s recommendations until these complaints had been resolved. The WG did not then reconvene during 2024 and, as a result, STFC’s use of The Crouch has rolled on in accordance with the initial permissions, having not received instructions to the contrary.

Recognising the importance of bringing this matter to a proper conclusion, the WG was recently reconvened, to discuss these matters and agree on recommendations to Full Council.  It is important to note these are recommendations only and no decision has yet been taken:

  • Floodlights – these can continue to be used as per the terms of the planning permission, with STFC continuing to inform the Town Council when they will be used [no change]
  • Adverts – for the remainder of this football season, advert banners may remain as they are (aside from any that represent a Health & Safety danger) – this is to be proportionate and reasonable to the Football Club recognising they may have advertising contracts with current advertisers for the remainder of this season. Following the end of this football season all adverts on the pitch side barrier must be removed and thereafter only be displayed during the period of hire.
  • Gates – a key part of the agreement permitting the Football Club to lock the gates was based on their commitment to manage each gate to allow access and egress if needed. This commitment has not been fulfilled, and the Football Club has cited it does not have the number of volunteers needed to fulfil this commitment. Therefore, in an attempt to broker a compromise, the Town Council has offered instead to allow an intercom system to be installed at each gate connecting to a single volunteer’s walkie talkie who will then be able to go to the relevant gate and allow access/egress.
    • In addition, the Town Council will urgently install, at its own cost, emergency exit push bar type solutions on the inside of all gates to allow swift crowd escape from The Crouch, to prevent the possibility of a crush scenario from occurring. Until this has been actioned the Football Club must honour their existing commitment to manage each gate so they can be opened quickly in the event of an emergency.

The Town Council must ensure it balances the needs of all users of The Crouch and upholds public rights of access and public safety in a public park.  The Town Council must also ensure it has a consistent approach across all sites and sports clubs, particularly in relation to advertising.  There is no truth to the suggestion that the Town Council is seeking to ‘damage’ the Football Club or ‘close it down’, as has been suggested online.

There have been associated rumours circulating that the Town Council is seeking to ‘sell off The Crouch for housing’. This is also untrue. In fact, the Town Council is exploring designating the area under ‘Fields in Trust’ status which would protect it from ever being built on in the future.

The Town Council would like to reiterate the importance of civility and respect in all debates whilst it seeks to work for the best interests of the whole community of Seaford.

All of the above is subject to consideration and discussion at the Full Council meeting on Thursday evening before any decisions will be made. The detailed agenda is available here. The Town Council has been, and will continue to be, completely open and transparent about what is being proposed.