Cork AAI to spend upwards of €350,000 in a sideways move into farming!

A sub-committee of Cork AAI has for the last number of months spent a large amount of time shopping around for a piece of land to purchase that is to be utilised as a permanent cross country venue. The current front runner is a 35 acre plot of farm land near Riverstick. It seems that the land has been ‘under maize’ recently and apparently that tells the non-farmers among us that the land is of good quality. As an add on it seems that 4-5 of these acres are ‘a bit rough’.

The land will be available for XC events throughout the winter. In any one year we have 2-3 county cross countrydates, maybe one Munster date and every 10 years or so a National Championship.

- Comments/Thoughts

1. Land will be ‘under silage’during the summer months; so no access during these months.
2. During the winter most clubs would like to access these grounds during the week when it will be mostly dark. Has anybody done a study on how much it would cost to floodlight the field and subsequently how much it will cost to light the place for an hour?
3. The value of the land may increase and should the land need to be sold a tidy profit might be made (where have weheard this before!!). There will be some income each year as the farmer is interested in renting back the land.
4. Ties up a large quantity of the county boards cash reserves which could perhaps be used better in the development ofthe sport (team support, website, development officers, online entry andresults systems)
5. It could get a bit boring racing XC in the same place all the time.
6. For the last couple of years there has been a lot of interest from cork clubs in hosting cross country events, it seems like a shame to take this opportunity from our clubs.
7. The county board has no constitution/book of rules. Do the committee legally have the right to spend our money in such a manner??
8. How much is it going to cost to develop the land in terms of dressing rooms, results rooms, parking etc?
9. Could the land be used for any other purpose that would generate revenue for the county board (e.g. cyclecross, golf driving range etc).
10. How do we know that we are purchasing the land at the right price??
11. Why not work with the city council and develop a proper training area (trails and hill runs) and XC course at the Kinsale Road landfill site. It would be sensible to properly explore this option (the city council are very interested in a collaboration) before ruling it out.
12. Will we be able to get planning permission for whatever developments take place at the venue?

My gut reaction is that this is a poor way to invest in athletics in Cork and I hope that this move doesn't prove to be a significant draw on the remaining cash reserves of the county board and indeed a draw on the already stretched time resources of the committee members.

Comments on a postcard please!!