Project Homeland

Club Statement 29th May 2025

Project Homeland Update Statement

Following a number of questions raised by our community about Project Homeland we have taken the decision to issue a club statement to ensure clarity is provided to all of our proposed plans.

Our intention is, and always has been, to work with St Augustine’s Academy to enhance their facilities in order to benefit their children and in turn the many local children who play at Barming Youth Football Club, considering both our needs and those of the wider community.

As a volunteer-run organisation, our primary goal for this project is not to generate profit or operate a business. Instead, our commitment is to provide a high-quality sporting facility that will benefit our players, the students of the schools, and the wider local community, both now and in the future. We have a commitment as a club to reinvest into the facility for ongoing maintenance and improvements as well as supporting our community footprint. We are all volunteers who dedicate our time to provide over 200 children in the local community with a place to enjoy playing football, there is no aspiration to create a late night economy function.

Our aim is purely to enhance the sports provision in the local area for children and adults of all ages and abilities, and we are eager to collaborate with the local community to create something that benefits everyone through a strong community relationship with St Augustine’s Academy.

Our current aim is to begin the project in approximately 12-18 months, although this timeline is subject to our fundraising efforts and could potentially extend. The construction of the sports pitch itself is estimated to take around 16 weeks from start to finish, but other amenities might have different timelines for completion.  We are yet to start any formal planning process, and want to work with the community at every step of the way so would welcome engagement from any interested parties.

From May 2025, we shall be hiring the grass pitches from St Augustine's Academy in line with their existing rental procedures just like any other sports provider might do.

We are planning on holding a public meeting in July/August 2025 that will be open to anyone to attend and ask questions about our immediate and longer term use of St Augustine's Academy's playing fields.

Sports Pitches

Currently, there are three football pitches on the St Augustine’s Academy site, in addition to sports areas that are marked out seasonally for various school sports activities. From August 2025, we will be marking out additional pitches on the areas already designated for school sports. There is currently no cricket pitch available for hire at St Augustine’s Academy, although an artificial practice wicket exists between two football pitches.

Should the 3G pitch receive planning approval and proceed, our use of the additional pitches that we intend to add will be negated, and those areas will revert to multi-sport use.

Concurrent Matches

The maximum number of concurrent matches would be four, and the player numbers in children's football are significantly lower than some of the projections being circulated:

• Saturday AM: 2 x 7v7, 2 x 5v5

• Saturday PM: 1 x 11v11

• Sunday AM: 1 x 7v7, 1 x 9v9, 1 x 11v11

• Sunday PM: 1 x 11v11

Adult Teams

Barming Youth Football Club has always included adult teams to provide continued playing opportunities for adults, but we see how the name of the club might be misleading. As such, these teams shall be under a separate banner from next season operating as Barming Football Club.

The men's first team will play their matches on a Saturday afternoon, and the ladies first team will play their matches on a Sunday afternoon.

Female Football

We've received some negative comments about our efforts to grow female football in the local community. We want to make it clear that we see increasing opportunities for girls and women to play football as a positive and important step forward.

Our club is proud to support female participation in the sport — from the 2025/26 season we aim to have a Ladies team, younger girls teams and Wildcats (girls aged 5 to 11) which is specifically for girls.

The 3G Proposal

Environmental Impact

At Barming Youth Football Club, we as a club and as individuals are fully conscious of the potential impact to the environment and local wildlife of such a venture. Simultaneously, we recognise the significant shortage of sporting facilities within our community and the urgent requirement for their development. Our initial proposal outlines the creation of a single, full-sized artificial pitch. This development would include fencing, approximately 15 ft in height, to ensure the safety and security of the facility, as well as the installation of sports lights.

We want to assure you that environmental considerations are paramount to our planning process. Before any further steps are taken, we fully intend to commission comprehensive environmental impact assessments conducted by qualified professionals.

These assessments will specifically evaluate the potential effects on local wildlife, and we are committed to implementing their recommendations and any necessary mitigation measures at our own cost.

Fob Holder Access

We have no plans to affect existing access arrangements for fob holders.

King Charles III Footpath

Representatives from a local community group suggested adding a more durable surface to any plans as a benefit back to the community. Any such surface would be sympathetic to the existing route providing greater accessibility and ease maintenance, and allowing a walking route from the St Augustine's Academy entrance to the one outside St Simon Stock. Any such route would require agreement from Oakwood Grammar School, and we plan to fully engage with them on this before any plans are submitted.

We have no plans to tarmac the King Charles III footpath and have never suggested such an action.

Community Hub

We are proposing a new Community Hub, envisioned as a cricket-style pavilion, carefully situated to maximise its distance from neighbouring residences while ensuring accessibility from the Queens Road entrance to Oakwood Park. The community building would also be available for residents to use during the day, along with a picnic and play area located within a gated area to avoid any impact on the safeguarding obligations of the schools on site. The Hub will be self-contained by extending the existing fencing up to the 3G area, with fob gates on each side to allow access to the fields during non-school hours.

There is no interest or desire to operate the Community Hub as a public house. We only propose to sell alcohol during Saturday afternoon matches and for a limited period afterward to allow our volunteer staff to return home to their families in the evening. Any other instances would be rare club events, for which we would obtain the necessary licenses in advance.

Parking

Our parking plan involves consolidating parking into one main area. We propose expanding the existing overflow car park to accommodate approximately 50-60 vehicles, in addition to the use of the School car park (approximately 60 spaces) and the parking bays outside the sports hall (approximately 60 spaces). We have also allocated 10 parking spaces near the corner by the Queens Road entrance specifically for disability access and match officials. The expanded overflow car park will include a clearly marked safe walking route along the perimeter leading towards the 3G site.

There has never been a suggestion by ourselves to use the car parks of any other facilities at Oakwood Park. A suggestion was put to us by a local councillor that we could perhaps make use of the Coroner's Court, but this was early in our meetings and we deemed it unnecessary to explore further.

Sports Lighting

The precise number and placement of sports lights are currently under review. However, we anticipate installing approximately four to six 15-meter-high LED sports lights that will be cowled and directed downwards to minimise any impact on residential properties. We expect that on Saturdays or Sundays, the sports lights would likely be in use until around 6 pm (during the darker months) to align with home fixtures, although not every week. On weeknights, they would be switched off by 10 pm at the latest to allow ample time for people to depart safely.

We anticipate that weeknight use would occur primarily when it gets dark early; there is no need or intention to operate them until 10 pm seven nights a week.

Usage

We do not intend to use the 3G pitch 365 days a year or every evening. Currently, our teams train on Tuesday evening, Wednesday evening, and Thursday evening, with matches on Saturdays and Sundays. Weekend matches are played during the mornings and afternoons, but not every week as sometimes the teams would be playing away from home.

The 3G will also be available for other sports including cricket, hockey, and rugby when not being used by ourselves.

We also propose reinstating an artificial wicket for the school's use, and levelling out the area to provide a better quality grass surface for them if they so wish.

Community Use

Outside of Barming Youth Football Club’s usage during non-school hours and St Augustine’s Academy’s use during school hours, we will make provision for the MUFC Disability Section and Football Fun Factory, who are already valued hirers at the site providing community sporting activities. We will also support an adult section at the facilities under the name of Barming Football Club, which will enable adults to play football, with veterans' and walking football provisions offered to support our pathway from children to adults. We mentioned to the local community group that the Hub and 3G pitch could be occasionally hired by the community on weekends (when not already in use) for events such as cricket matches and children's birthday parties.

As a non-profit organisation with no desire to operate a business, we have no financial requirement or desire for such rentals. Any fees charged would solely cover running costs, such as maintenance and cleaning.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

Joint St Augustine's Academy & BYFC Statement 3rd April 2025

A Home at Last! BYFC’s Exciting New Future

After 45 years without a home of our own, Barming Youth FC finally has a place to call home!

We’re excited to announce that our friends at St Augustine’s Academy have offered us a piece of land where we can build something special, starting imminently with use of the fields for summer training and 2025/26 league games.

On their playing field, we plan to create an all-weather 4G football facility - not just for the children and adults at Barming Youth FC and St Augustine’s Academy, but for the wider community too.

BYFC also seek to welcome teams joining us as we embark on this pathway, in particular female teams seeking to join a club with such a vision in support of our new 5 year female pathway plan (accessible here).

But that’s not all! We also want to build a Community Hub for local residents, with walking paths, a play area, and a picnic spot for everyone to enjoy.

We understand that change can bring concerns, so we’ll be working closely with local residents to listen and address any worries.

We also care deeply about the environment and will make sure our project results in a positive impact, aiming for at least a 10% net gain in biodiversity.

This is a community project and we seek support from the community in our ambitious plans. If you feel you can support the project please reach out to committee@barmingyouth.co.uk.

Statement from our partners, St Augustine Academy:

"We are thrilled to share some exciting news with our school community! St Augustine Academy has been approached by Barming Youth Football Club with an incredible opportunity—the installation of an 11-a-side 4G pitch on our school fields.

What makes this project even more exciting is that it comes at little cost to the Academy! Once completed, this state-of-the-art, all-weather pitch will be available for our students to use for football, rugby, and various other sporting events, giving our students a fantastic new space to train and compete.

This project is still in the very early planning stages, but we couldn’t be happier to be involved. We believe this development will greatly benefit our students and the wider community, and we are looking forward to your support as the planning process moves forward.

To keep everyone informed and involved, Barming Youth Football Club will be hosting a presentation at the school to share their vision and goals for this project. Prior to submitting for the required planning permission. 

We will provide further details as soon as they become available—stay tuned!

We can’t wait to see how this exciting project unfolds and look forward to working together to make it a reality!"