Do you love our Club? Then the time to act is now.

Southwark Council have not taken a decision on the planning application to redevelop Champion Hill. Meadow Residential (the owners of Champion Hill) have now appealed against the failure of the Council to make a decision within the statutory time period and for the refusal to allow amendments to the existing Section 106 agreement. The cases have now been referred to the Planning Inspectorate. This is our last chance to demonstrate our support for the scheme. We must all act before the deadline for comments on 7 March.

The proposed redevelopment of Champion Hill offers the best chance to secure the long-term sustainability of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club and protect its future by placing ownership into the hands of supporters. It provides a new ground and leisure facility that will be accessible to the local community, including local schools.

We polled members of the Trust in late April/May 2016 on whether we should back the plans. An overwhelming 94% of those polled agreed that DHST should back the plans. Our views are therefore clearly representative of one of, if not the largest, community groups in the local area (membership is currently just over 270).

It’s essential that the Planning Inspectorate understands the wide backing that this scheme has from the community. The chance of the redevelopment being approved, and therefore the future of our Club being put in severe jeopardy, will be put at risk if supporters do not act to back the scheme.

We want ideas from you on how to support the plans and volunteers to galvanise wider support. We will be jointly hosting a meeting with the Football Committee on Monday 20 February at 7pm at the Club bar. This meeting is open to all who want to protect the future of our club, and therefore want the plans to be approved. Please do try and attend.

We also urgently need you to write or post on the Planning Inspector web portal by 7 March, and to encourage others to do so. Copy and paste letters and petitions do not win favour in these cases. Unique comments are far more valuable. Ideas on what can be included in your web posting or letter can be found hereon the #SupportOurStadium part of our website. It is possible to confirm, add to, change or withdraw any comments previously made to Southwark Council. If you did not previously comment on the applications, then you are still able to now, and they will be taken into account by the Inspector. We also suggest you consider writing to your MP and local Councillors to encourage them to support the scheme.