The meeting tonight into the future of Mitcham CC’s pavilion and the development of the neighbouring land was extremely well attended. Thank you for the ongoing support from the cricket community and our neighbours.

Promises were made about Phoenix opening discussions with the Club about securing the long term future of the pavilion. We would welcome those discussions. The representative from Phoenix said he would investigate ways to improve our security of tenure ahead of seeking planning permission, which, we would also welcome.

Sadly, Phoenix have a long history of broken promises.

Marcus Beale, the architect, said Phoenix would be prepared to discuss selling the pavilion to the club but only after they secure planning permission.

We are still not able to speak to any of Phoenix’s directors. There was no explanation of why we have had no replies to any of our many letters, nor why we were not consulted over the current plans. It was indicated that they would be seeking an unrealistically high price for the freehold of the cricket club section of the site.

Although the Phoenix representative confirmed that they would not accept any of the back rent which Mitcham CC has tried to pay, they made it clear that they would seek considerably more than the peppercorn rent that the club paid from 1904 till Phoenix bought the freehold in 2008.

Our aim continues to be to secure the freehold of the cricket club section of the site to guarantee the long term survival of Mitcham CC and provide a viable future for cricket on the green. As a partner of Mitcham Cricket Green Community and Heritage we will continue to support a campaign for a development of the entire site that is appropriate for the conservation area.

Next step is a private meeting with Phoenix and the architect on Thursday.

The fight goes on. Thanks for your ongoing support.

25 June 2018

Press inquiries to mitchamcricketclub@gmail.com