THE site of a prominent White-hill "eyesore" could be redeveloped as a community sports facility, according to a football club chairman. Nigel Welch - chairman of Wey Valley Football Club and treasurer of the Bordon, Whitehill and District Sports Council - voiced his opinion on the potential of the disused clubhouse site, following a statement this week by the Whitehill Club saying it hoped plans for the site would be decided in the "very near future". The clubhouse has lain empty since being gutted by fire six years ago. The club was extending its pavilion, on the A325, when a fire broke out one night in 2000. The remains of the old pavilion, the steel skeleton of the planned extension and a litter-strewn bowling green, are visible on the south approach to Whitehill. The issue resurfaced in July when Peter Gould, chairman of Whitehill and Bordon's Town partnership transport group, asked a district council community forum meeting about the site, which he labelled an "eyesore". Last week the club, which moved its meetings into town following the loss of the clubhouse, said: "The Whitehill Club has experienced a number of extraordinary problems since the fire, which the trustees are resolving and finally moving towards a resolution. Once this process has been completed, the members will be in a position to re-access proposals for the future of the site and premises." Mr Gould said he was frustrated that, because the site was privately owned by the club, the council could not intervene. In response to an enquiry by The Herald, club member Bob Betteley issued a statement saying: "Members of the club are acutely aware of the dishevelled and derelict outward appearance of both the club and its grounds, and moreover they share many of the concerns expressed by residents of the area. "Since the fire burned down the club's original premises, there has been a quite extraordinary sequence of problems with the project and even now the situation remains highly complex. "For these reasons, the club is currently not at liberty to make any definitive statements as to the future. But I would, nonetheless, seek to reassure you that there are people beavering away in the background trying to solve the outstanding issues. "We all fervently hope that everything will be resolved in the very near future, and when it is the club will make a point of announcing its intentions for the future as widely as possible in the local area." Mr Welch said he would like to see the site - which once hosted football, cricket and bowling matches and was a thriving working men's club - remain a recreational centre once the problems have been resolved. He said: "My own desire is that the site ultimately comes back to the community, however that's possible, and I want it to be a multi-sport facility. "There is plenty of room but it needs a lot of thought as to how best to use the space. There would be a mixture of play areas, car parking and a social side with a bar or some kind of refreshments. "Once the current problems are overcome, there needs to be a fairly high-level meeting between interested parties and representatives for local sports-users. "The site will never get permission for a change of use to houses or offices because it is surrounded on three sides by SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)." Whitehill town councillor Adam Carew, who hopes the land can be retained for recreational use, said: "It is a highly visible site at the very entrance to the town. "It lies beyond the settlement-policy boundary and, from a planning policy perspective, it is very close to a special protected area - the highest designation for wildlife in the country. It will also be very close to the gateway of the proposed South Downs National Park."
