New plans for �2m Westward Ho! tennis centre to go on show
WESTWARD Ho! Tennis Club will be showing off the latest proposals for its new �2 million indoor racquets centre at a two-day public exhibition next month. Last year it put forward two proposals for consultation: one in Silford Road and the other in Tadwo
WESTWARD Ho! Tennis Club will be showing off the latest proposals for its new �2 million indoor racquets centre at a two-day public exhibition next month.
Last year it put forward two proposals for consultation: one in Silford Road and the other in Tadworthy Road.
Responses weighed heavily in favour of the Silford Road proposal and now the club is displaying a refined design for public consultation before making a formal planning application.
The exhibition is being held from 4pm to 9pm on July 10 and from 12noon to 6pm on July 11 at the tennis club in Avon Lane.
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Club members and representatives of sports governing bodies will be available to provide feedback and answer questions.
The proposal for the near 10-acre site at Silford is for four indoor and six outdoor tennis courts, plus four mini-courts for juniors. All would be floodlit.
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There would also be indoor badminton and squash courts, a sports hall which could accommodate table tennis, plus activities room, meeting room, viewing galleries, refreshment, toilet, changing and storage facilities.
The club has been working since 2005 on plans to expand and upgrade its facilities, including the provision of indoor courts, but with insufficient room on its present site.
Now this could be within reach following provisional agreement with builders to develop the present Westward Ho! site with housing, providing the finance for new, purpose-built facilities.
Andy Lobato, chairman of the club's development committee, said following the previous consultation there had been 442 written responses. Of these, 426 supported the plan for a new centre, 237 preferred the Silford site, 18 went for Tadworthy and 148 didn't mind.
"We felt there was an overwhelming remit for the Silford option and have carried out assessments of the site and liaised with planners. We have now produced a refined design and will be presenting it to the public for feedback."
If this was supported, they would then go through the planning process, with the hope of making a start on the two-year building programme towards the end of the year or early in 2010, he said.
