BRAND-NEW facilities built on Langhams Recreation Ground in Ridgway Road could be the future for Brightwell Bowls Club, which stands to be controversially displaced by the East Street development. Waverley Council is looking into the potential for the club to share a clubhouse and playing facilities on the Langhams site with The Bourne Royal British Legion Bowls and Social Club, which would move from Burnt Hill Road. The suggestion, described by chief development officer Stephen Thwaites as "a win-win situation" for both clubs, was unveiled to Waverley's ruling executive on Tuesday. With a planning application for East Street promised by developers Crest Nicholson Sainsbury's (CNS) next month, the executive agreed several important recommendations relating to the development to make to next week's full council meeting. As well as the bowls club issue, the Brightwell Gostrey Centre and Riverside car parking will also impact on the CNS plans. The 80-member bowls club is expected to receive notice to quit from Waverley while the council investigates the possibility to relocate it or merge it with another club. Bob Duffield, secretary of the bowls club, which has declared it will fight to stay, told The Herald this week that the matter was in the hands of the club's solicitor and that the club had not yet been told about the Langhams proposal. CNS have indicated to Waverley that if a turf green is to be reinstated at Brightwells, the facility would be unavailable for two-and-a- half years - a situation that would almost certainly be fatal to the bowls club. An artificial surface would also mean a significant period of closure, plus a cost to Waverley of around £80,000 which has not been included in Waverley's East Street financial appraisal. The cost of another option - that of relocating the club to the Riverside - has been estimated at around £625,000, plus £250,000 for flood and contamination remediation works. By contrast, the use of Langhams Recreation Ground carries the advantage for Waverley that it could expect The Bourne Royal British Legion Club to pay for the new facilities using the proceeds from the sale of its existing one- acre site. The executive was told that the legion's clubhouse in Burnt Hill Road is at an age when it needs to be replaced, but planning consent for a development that would have paid for it had been refused. "The club now faces an uncertain future and with declining numbers, needs to find ways to a) secure its future in terms of providing a suitable building, which can be maintained, and b) to attract new members to the club. "If no solution can be found, then it is likely that this valuable social provision could be lost to the area... "The club chairman has indicated that if a suitable site could be found, then it may be prepared to enter into an agreement relating to the provision of shared clubhouse and playing facilities with Brightwell Bowls Club." If a small area of off-road parking could be accommodated at the entrance to the recreation ground, this could also assist with tackling the area's existing parking problem, councillors were advised. The likely decision that the Brightwell Bowls Club will not form part of the East Street development could, however, prove to the benefit of the Brightwell Gostrey Centre. For the executive has supported a suggestion to investigate the possibilty of an enhanced day centre being provided on the part of the site that had been identified for the clubhouse. Although financial factors are yet to be considered, councillors were in sympathy with Waverley's community overview and scrutiny committee, which wants to see a new centre performing a wider community role. In the meantime, developers have confirmed, the Gostrey Centre will be able to remain untouched and operational on its current site throughout the East Street development. The executive went on to agree that officers should discuss with CNS the possibility of the developer project managing Waverley's planning application for a tennis pavilion, five tennis courts and 300 car parking spaces on the Riverside. It was felt there could be advantages to the approach because of work common to both schemes such as flood risk assessment.
