Cork pitch lease saga set to finally come to an end

A SAGA over a lease agreement for a Cork soccer club which has rumbled on for almost three decades is expected to be resolved next week, according to a Cork city councillor.

Fianna Fáil councillor Colm Kelleher said the disposal of a parcel of land in Ballincollig known as the ‘Landing Field’ to Ballincollig AFC will come before councillors for approval at the next meeting of Cork City Council on Monday.

Mr Kelleher said the club was promised lands by the then minister of defence 27 years ago.

“They were promised the Landing Field, where they’re situated for the last 27 years, but it was to be kept in the possession of Cork County Council at the time and Cork County Council were to give the club a very long lease.

“There was an ongoing saga for the last 27 years that the county weren’t in a position to offer them a lease, and then there were issues with title, there were issues with way leave, there were issues with planning, and it was just rumbling on and rumbling on and rumbling on.

“When the boundary extension happened in 2019, it became Cork City Council’s problem.

“The club then started a campaign again, a fresh attempt, to secure the lease for the Landing Field,” he explained.

“They approached me when I was elected to see if I could do anything on it.”

Mr Kelleher said in the intervening years progress on the lease agreement has been beset by a number of obstacles, including the need to rezone the land from commercial — as zoned by the county council before the boundary extension — to sports and recreation.

However, he said “all the circles have now been squared”.

“I will be proposing the disposal of the lands [to Ballincollig AFC] on a 99-year lease, which is effectively as good as ownership,” he said.

Mr Kelleher said the lack of a lease agreement has prevented the club from applying for major national sports capital funding to develop its facilities.

“The club has been severely disadvantaged for the last 27 years in relation to national sports capital grants, because one of the terms in that is that you need to have ownership of the grounds in question or you need to have a long lease on it,” he said.

Mr Kelleher said while the club has received local authority funding in previous years, the lease will enable it to pursue more extensive national funding.

In a statement to The Echo, the committee of Ballincollig AFC said it does not believe that the matter will be resolved and completed until it is “in receipt of a duly executed lease in respect of the property”.

“That has not occurred to date and accordingly we believe that any announcement declaring the matter concluded is premature,” said the committee.

The committee further added that it remains “guarded until the matter has been completed by the legal representatives on both sides”.

“When the matter is resolved, rest assured that the club will make the announcement formally to notify its members and supporters,” the committee continued.