Bath is not a football city.
The Recreation Ground, which is the rugby club’s home, sits right in the centre of town. It’s a rundown, backwards venue where tickets are overpriced, but then that broadly describes Bath itself. Amid all the Georgian architecture and beautiful white stone lies dysfunction and – ultimately – a lot of local frustration.
Walk through those streets today and it’s not just Beau Nash or Brunel that comes to mind, but the number of empty shop fronts. Talk to any independent business owner and they’ll tell you the same: it’s not a place to be an underdog. It’s a city which can make room for four Caffe Neros, a Primark and a Waitrose, but where anything slightly different tends to be on borrowed time from the moment it opens.
But there is a football club here, even if you have to work harder and search longer to find it. Bath City have a history, too. Malcolm Allison began his managerial career in the West Country. Stan Mortensen finished his playing days in these parts. Bobby Zamora once had a brief but prolific loan spell here, around the turn of the Millennium.
The past is the past, though. Whether there’s a future is a different matter.
The club are doing what they can to create one, though. In June 2019, they – in conjunction with Greenacre Capital Ltd – submitted an application for the development of Twerton Park, their home for the past 88 years. The project would have included the construction of a new grandstand, a terrace and - crucially, for the sake of providing further value in the community - the laying of a new 3G pitch.
The suburb of Twerton is a 20 minute walk from the city centre. It’s very different. There are no Roman Baths or Pump Rooms. There’s no towering, ornate Abbey, either. As part of Bath City’s planning application, the intention had been to create new housing benefits within the area, including 356 new student rooms, 33 co-living apartments, and 12 new affordable properties. On top of which would have been more general benefits, such as a gym and a community function space.
The full documentation filed with Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) can be viewed and downloaded here.
The application was recommended for rejection on March 12th. Within the Notification of Decision, BANES cited the poor design of the student accommodation, potential harm to the Bath Conservation Area (which wouldn’t be offset by the potential public benefits) and was also critical of the failure to provide adequate on-site parking.
The student rooms were a particular concern, both in terms of the height and scale of the building, and also the size of the rooms themselves. At a planning meeting on March 11, Councillor Sarah Moore conceded that while Twerton desperately needed rejuvenation, she had concerns about the living conditions that would be created.
“The scale of the student building is too large. Too many people will be crammed into a small area. I urge you to reject this application, and urge the football club to work with us to find an application that can work for all.”
The size of the student population is a hot button issue in Bath. It’s a two-sided argument, though. On the one hand, students comprise over a quarter of the local population and exemptions from council tax and the necessary provision of housing has created a predictable strain. And with it, plenty of resentment.
At the same time, it’s a demographic upon which a lot of local businesses depend and which they would almost certainly perish without.
It remains a problem without a proper answer, but local objections are never far from the surface and any new development which makes a student provision naturally feels that pressure. Petitions like this are unusual, but the sentiment is not.
The club are dismayed by last week's decision, but remain defiant. In a statement released on Friday, chairman Nick Blofeld expressed his disappointment:
"The scale of the rejection and late addition of new criticisms was a surprise and frustration, as we had worked closely with Bath and North East Somerset Council throughout this process. We knew of the 'height, massing, scale' challenge (with the student accommodation), but new issues came up which seemed quite subjective and not factually based."
In 2017, Bath City completed their transition to community ownership. In two years, the Supporters' Society raised in excess of £350,000 and took control of the club. But it was a starting point rather than a destination, and the redevelopment of Twerton Park was a fundamental part of their journey.
Not least because of the extra revenue which would have been generated. According to accounts released at the end of 2018, the club was making an annual loss of some £137,000, with total debts of almost £1m. The new facilities – obviously – were an answer to that. As part of their business plan, the club projected that they would be able to generate £103,386 a year from the 3G pitch alone, a further £205,409 a year from the use of the new community centre and, in total, an annual £540,891 from the new facilities collectively, not including matchday revenue.
“In three years of community ownership – and over 130 years of existence – Bath City has proved itself a resilient and determined football club. We will overcome this setback and we will carry on.”
Blofeld promises a response and no doubt one will be forthcoming. But this is a muddled city with confused priorities and one where the signs of decay now live alongside the celebrated landmarks. Whether a compromise with the council can be found remains to be seen, but Bath City and Twerton need one.
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