Pic: Mike Capps
KETTERING Council have been told they must not allow Rockingham Road to rot away after hundreds of supporters marched on their offices.
The Poppies’ former home is still standing, and if the Southern Premier club can get the ground they left in 2011 listed as an Asset of Community Value, the slim possibility of a return there will be kept alive.
In a fan-led protest, over 300 supporters made their voices heard as they walked from the derelict stadium to council offices in the town and handed over a 4,500-signature strong petition.
Anxious wait
Organiser Richard Atkinson addressed councillors in a meeting to discuss what happens next to their home since 1897 after being given time to put their views across.
The council then debated the petition for 15 minutes, which they had been refusing to do up until the meeting. Ultimately it was progress for the supporters, and they face an eight-week wait to hear if they have done enough to convince the council that Rockingham Road is vital for the town.
Atkinson said: “It will rumble on, but I think it’s fair to say we really made our point. The council’s argument is that the ground couldn’t be listed by law as it’s not been used for community use in the recent past, which they considered to be five years.
“The Localism Act, however, says that there is no legal definition of ‘recent past’, and it is up to the council to decide on what recent past means. As there has been no other use of the site other than for community use since 1897, then to define recent past as only five years is laughable.
“I certainly don’t think Kettering Borough Council have encountered anything like they did last week. We made an awful lot of noise and put our point across well.
“The Mayor said they didn’t have to accept our petition or debate the issue at all, but they did – the ground is still there and while it’s standing it has to be considered as an option for us.”
No debate
The former Conference club have been playing at Latimer Park since 2013, and while the ground is suitable for their current needs in Step 3, if they are to progress they must return to the town, Atkinson stresses.
“If the stadium had been bulldozed and turned into housing then it’s a debate we wouldn’t be having, but it’s not – it’s still standing but it’s decaying,” he said. “We won’t give up until a long-term solution to Kettering’s ground issue is found.”
