Conditions of hire of an outdoor facility/pavilion for sporting activities

Regular/occasional hirers and clubs

1. Booking

The Council reserves the right to refuse a booking. If the Council accepts the booking, the person, or persons, accepting these Conditions of Hire, who must be 18 years of age or over, shall be deemed to be the hirer/club as well as the Society, Association, Club or other body or organisation on whose behalf the booking may be made and will be jointly and severally liable to the Council for the payment of the hiring fees and charges, and for the strict observance of these Conditions of Hire.

2. Payment of Fees and Charges

Charges are stated on the individual sports pages: Hire a sports pitch. An invoice will be sent requesting payment. Non-payment of fees and charges due by the hirer/club will incur reminder notices and if not paid may be referred to the District Solicitor. Further bookings may then be subject to cancellation by the Council, at the Council's discretion.

3. Cancellation

Any cancellation by the hirer/club must be notified in writing/e-mail to this office giving at least 24 hours' notice. The decision of the Council on the fitness of a facility for play, or otherwise, is final and whenever possible, notification of the cancellation of a facility will be given as soon as possible. For Monday to Friday evening fixtures, notification will be given by 16:30 on the day of play. After that time it is the discretion of the team to decide if the pitch is playable. Please contact the Council as soon as possible if you call off a game due to weather conditions. However, if a game begins and then stops during play due to adverse weather, use of the outdoor facility will still be charged for.

4. Ground Reinstatement

The hirer/club shall pay the cost of any works of repair or reinstatement required as a result of unnecessary and avoidable damage to the ground resulting from the hiring. The hirer/club must report any damage to the Council on the first working day following the hiring.

5. Indemnity and Insurance

The hirer/club shall indemnify the Council and keep the Council fully indemnified against all damage(s), losses, costs, expenses, actions, demands, proceedings, claims and liabilities made against or suffered or incurred by the Council arising directly or indirectly out of:

(i) any act, omission or negligence of the hirer/club or any persons at the premises expressly or impliedly with the hirer's/club's authority or

(ii) any breach or non-observance by the hirer/club of the covenants, conditions or other provisions of this agreement or any of the matters to which this hiring is subject PROVIDED THAT (and for the avoidance of doubt) there shall be liability if and to the extent that the same shall be caused or arise from any negligence, act or omission on the part of the Council, its agents, contractors or employees. In addition, all hirers/clubs shall obtain a policy of insurance against third party risks/public liability to the value of £5 million. The Council must receive a copy of the policy not less than 5 days prior to the date of the first hire session, except in conditions approved by the Council.

6. Health and Safety

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a full risk assessment for your activity, and a Safeguarding policy in place (if booking for juniors) which must be available to the District Council upon request.

7. Temporary Closure

In the event of any accident or occurrence whatsoever necessitating temporary closure of all, or part, of the facility hired, the hirer/club agrees that Chichester District Council shall not be liable for any loss or claims arising from such closure. If in the opinion of the Divisional Manager Culture and Sport it is impossible, impracticable or inadvisable to allow the event to take place by reason of the nature of the event, the condition of the open space or of any buildings, equipment, fixtures or fittings therein or the carrying out of works of maintenance or repair thereto, the existence of any industrial dispute involving the Council's servants or agents, or any other circumstances outside the Council's control, the organisers shall be repaid any deposit or sum of money that may have been paid but shall have no claim against the Council for any damage or loss they may sustain or in respect of any liability which they may incur or have incurred in consequence of any such revocation.

8. Car Parking

The hirer/club shall be responsible for the control of all motor vehicles belonging to the hirer/club, or any other user of the facility hired by the hirer/club, within the grounds of the outdoor facility. Vehicles must be parked only in designated parking areas. The parking of vehicles on grass without the written authorisation of the Council is prohibited. Under no circumstances will the Council accept any responsibility for loss or damage to the contents of, or to, any car or other vehicle that may be brought to or left within the grounds of the outdoor facility site. Vehicular access to parks owned by the Council is with express permission only. Any hirers not abiding by these Conditions are subject to having further bookings refused.

9. Rubbish Clearance

The hirer/club is responsible to ensure that any rubbish created during the event is cleared from the site. The Council reserves the right to recharge any additional rubbish removal costs to the hirer.

10. Pitch Preparation

The Council undertakes to maintain line markings for all outdoor sports activity areas within the basic charge for that activity.

Football: The Council supply posts, corner flags and nets. The posts are erected by the Council. The erection and return of corner flags and nets are the responsibility of the team booking the pitch. It is their duty to ensure this is carried out safely and in accordance with the team's risk assessment.

Failure to return equipment may result in a charge.

11. Pitch Inspection

The pitch will be inspected by the District Council when marking it out, however it is the responsibility of the hirer and appointed match official(s) to assess whether the pitches and associated equipment are fit for play/use in relation to their booked activity.

12. Public Access

The public must not be prevented from having free access to all other areas of the sports or recreation ground without the written consent of the Council.

13. Special conditions

The Council reserves the right to modify any of these conditions, or to further impose conditions where the Council considers necessary.

14. Pavilions

If you are booking a Pavilion at a site:

14.1 Key Collection

Pavilion keys are available for collection from the main reception at the Westgate Leisure Chichester, Cathedral Way, Chichester (Contact no: 03330 050396). The general opening hours are as follows:

Monday to Thursday 6.30am-10.30pm; Friday 7.00am-10.30pm; Saturday 7.00am-8.30pm, Sunday 9.00am-8.30pm.

Pavilion keys must be picked up no earlier than the day immediately prior to the booking. A deposit of £10.00 will be charged when the keys are signed out. The keys must then be returned and signed back in on the day of the booking or by 12:00pm the next day. If the keys are returned late the £10.00 deposit will not be refunded. Any team that loses a set of Pavilion keys will be invoiced for the cost of replacement locks and keys (this will be in the region of £200).

14.2. Usage of Pavilion

There is a NO SMOKING policy in all Pavilions. Any hirer who smokes or allows smoking may be subject to a fixed penalty as detailed in The Smoke-free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006. The hirer/club is responsible for:

a. the conduct of all users of the Pavilion facilities hired under the authority of the hirer/club during the hire session

b. ensuring all lights, and where applicable, heating to be switched off

c. ensuring all showers and taps to be turned off

d. all furniture to be secure and left in a clean and tidy condition

e. all external doors are secured

Any damage occurring to the Pavilion during each hire period must be reported to the Council no later than the first working day following the hiring. Where damage has been caused to the Pavilion or fittings as a result of negligence on the hirers/clubs behalf, the Council reserve its absolute right to employ such resources as may be required to repair Pavilion facilities and to recharge the full cost of such resources to the club.

14.3 Fire Safety

In the event of a fire, the hirer is responsible for evacuating the Pavilion and contacting the appropriate emergency services. DO NOT attempt to extinguish the fire.

14.4 Access

If you have any problems with the grounds or accessing the pavilion between 9am and 5pm on a weekday, please phone the Sport and Leisure team on: 01243 534798. All other times please phone the Out of Hours Emergency Line on: 07831 749130 and they will contact the appropriate staff member to deal with your concern.

15. Failure to comply

Failure to comply with any of the above conditions may result in a termination of all booking rights.

16. Correspondence

All correspondence, including complaints, reporting damage and notification of lost property must be either e-mailed to sport@chichester.gov.uk or sent in writing to:

Culture and Sport
Chichester District Council
East Pallant House
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1TY

If you wish to have your clubs information provided to the public via Chichester Districts online Sports Directory, please visit the following link and complete the Sports club directory registration form.