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                                                                      February 5th 2009
Dear fellow athletes:
    We are asking members and non-members alike to petition the Crowborough Town Council to ask them to upgrade the running track in Crowborough
by writing to them at: Crowborough Town Council, The Town hall, The Broadway, Crowborough, East Sussex   TN6 1DA or  by emailing the town council
via the Town Clerk on: linda@crowboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk

    Most of you know, that Crowborough Runners have campaigned tirelessly for a number of years to get the old pot-holed, virtually unusable, cinder track
upgraded. This has become all the more important in the last few years since the club has started to run junior training sessions at the track at Goldsmiths
and we are having to turn keen juniors away as a result of the poor state of the track. We are also unable to train disabled athletes and larger groups     
 as a result.

    We believed that we had finally persuaded the previous Town Council to upgrade and spend money on the track as we have been unable to obtain any lottery
or other funding, despite our efforts and failed lottery bids, and despite our best efforts to seek funding partners from the business community. However
the newly elected Council has shelved these plans. Several local running clubs including Tunbridge Wells Harriers, Wadhurst, Heathfield, and Utopia
(in Uckfield).have sent letters of support to the club saying they would use a 'proper' track. There are also 11 primary schools that could use the track.
               Click here to see letters of support from local Clubs.
  We also have letters of support from Lord Coe and Dave Moorecroft from UKA for the upgrade project, and from England Athletics and the County Athletic
Association.
                       Click here to see letters of support from governing bodies and Lord Coe.
                       Click Here to see Club and School Partnership Agreement
   We believe therefore that we have proved the need for a proper track.  Don't forget we are only three years away from the 2012 Olympics,
yet Wealden is the largest known single English district without a proper track.  With the Government's aim for Britain to be 4th in the Olympic medal tables,
 and  with obesity rates at their highest level ever, it is crucial we have good sports facilities. We need to get as many young people as active as we can,
and to encourage them to take up sport including athletics, and for them to be able to train on a proper track so they are fit for other sports at grass roots
levels in a safe and secure environment, next to a disabled accredited sports centre.
    The new Town Council proposed last year to grass over the track  but have currently halted any further spending on the project. We need you to petition
them to upgrade the track in partnership with the Club and to have your say about the poorest athletics facilities in the South East, so please can you
contact the council, pointing out how much we need a proper track and that there is a genuine need for one.
     A full discussion of the reasons why an upgraded track is essential is given in James Welbury's article    Case for a new Running Track

One of the latest articles on the subject in the Courier, stated:-

Cinder Track to go under rec plans

    "A new  grass track and floodlights for Goldsmiths are on the cards for Crowborough next year (08). The Council Sport, Recreation and Cemetery
Committee has announced its priorities for 2008, which are dependant of sufficient funding being approved by the council in the new year.
The most extensive work is probably that  planned at Goldsmith's recreation ground, where the cinder track will be replaced with grass and floodlights
introduced. Cllr. Peter Cowie, chairman of the committee said "The cinder which is there is not suitable for running. The previous town council were
looking at whether or not to have a full athletics track or not." Cllr. Cowie said that it was made clear that the funding, in terms of grants from athletics
governing bodies, would not be forthcoming and the demand for the track was not really there so the cinder track would be replaced with grass, which
will  be kept to the length of a "cricket out-field" and marked out as a 400m track. He said, "We are also putting in footpaths to create greater recreational
use. That enables recreational use for joggers." Cllr.  Cowie said he hoped  the paths would make it far easier for people pushing prams and walking dogs
on the recreation ground. The area will also be floodlit at lower intensity than would have been required for track meetings.
    The chairman said it may cost around £60,000 for the paths and £25,000 to take the electricity  supply from the road to where it is needed. There will
then be costs for the floodlights themselves and for the replacement of the cinder track. The plans from the committee include an overhaul of playground
equipment with £75,000 earmarked for this. A recent report from Wealden District Council identified a lack of provision in terms of recreation in the town
and the committee is looking to buy land in an attempt to rectify this. Meetings of the Finance and General Purposes committee and the full council in the
new year will decide the extent to which those plans can be acted on in 2008."