Richmond Volleyball and
the Voluntary Community Sport Sector launch public petition to oppose Richmond
Council's proposed planning
application to build an obsolete
indoor sports hall at Waldegrave Girls School (Twickenham).
What is the issue! Against advice and specifications outlined by Sport
England, Richmond Council and the Conservative-Run council insist
on continuing with plans to use tax payers money to build a multi-million pound sports
hall which is actually obsolete in size (34.5m x 18.0m x 7.5m) at
Waldegrave Girls School (Twickenham). This means it will not be fit for purpose,
represents poor value for
money in terms of sports development outcomes
and will not support the wider community use, so will therefore be a
waste of tax payers money. Richmond Council hope to fund this obsolete sport hall by sale of the
existing tennis courts to part fund the scheme. Local councils and politicians cannot ignore community sport requirement and need to come back in line with Sport
England National Planning Facilities Framework and build a (34.5m x 20.0m x 7.5m) sports hall that is fit
for purpose, represents excellent
value for money in terms of sports development outcomes and will support the wider community use.
Alternative
Solution. Sport England and the Community want
to see that the loss of the tennis courts is compensated by the provision of a sports
hall that will meet the community sporting need and adhere to Sport England
recommendations. This means the construction of a sports hall that is (34.5m
x 20.0m x 7.5m). These dimensions would deliver a facility that is fit for purpose, value for money in term of
sports development outcomes and supports community sports providing a
sustainable legacy following the Olympics. Sport England new sports hall model
(34.5m x 20.0m x 7.5m) offers two meters additional
width space and one and half meters length - although relatively small this
actually provides far greater potential for maximising the space, making it a
more useful and attractive facility for a number of sports e.g. volleyball,
basketball and netball.
The opportunity for 2 full size volleyball training
courts instead of one, means that potentially 24 people can be active instead
of 12 or one court can be utilised leaving half the hall available for a
different booking to keep costs to a minimum. Sports like
volleyball are crying out for better school links, greater access to quality
and affordable facilities. So, this larger sports hall will be a true benefit
not only to the students but the wider Richmond sporting community.Please extend your support to this cause by putting
your name to this petition. Thank you.Yes I oppose Richmond Council's proposed planning application to
build an obsolete indoor sports hall (34.5m x 18.0m x 7.5m) at Waldegrave Girls
School (Twickenham) and support Sport England's recommendations to build a (34.5m x 20.0m x 7.5m) sport hall model which
would be of greater benefit to the school and the wider community.
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Commenting on Richmond Councils proposals.
Sue Appleton (Sport England, Schools Liaison
Officer),
LBRuT will need to put forward a planning application to Sport England for
the change of
use of the existing tennis courts that are being sold to part fund the scheme. Sport
England will want to see that this loss of recreational facility is compensated
by substitute provision that is of acceptable replacement value. Unfortunately (34.5 x 18.0 x 7.6 m) is “not fit for purpose
and represents poor value for money in terms of sports development outcomes”.
Andy Sutch
(Chair, Sport Richmond), ‘Active People’ surveys in London have shown that
Richmond Borough, at over 40% has a high adult participation rate, much
delivered by community sports clubs but this proposal from LBRuT will undermine the potential for growth. The Waldegrave
School sports hall decision is incredible in the light of Sport England’s
advice. Our recommended guidance does not support the
construction of a new 33m x 18m x 7.6m sports hall as for many sports it is not
fit for purpose and represents poor value for money in terms of sports
development outcomes.
Lisa
Wainwright (CEO, Volleyball England), Sport England new sports hall model offers two meters additional width space and one and half meters length - although
relatively small this actually provides far greater potential for maximising
the space and making it affordable particularly for volleyball. The opportunity
for 2 full size training courts instead of one, meaning that potentially 24
people can be active instead of 12 or once court can be utilised leaving half
the hall available for a different booking and keeping costs to a minimum.
Andy Reed (Chair of the
Sport and Recreation Alliance): Its the many sports
clubs who are playing a vital role in this endeavour to succeed on the legacy
promise. Sport Clubs are crying out for better school links, greater access to
quality and affordable facilities and the removal of pointless red tape. All of
these things are acting as a barrier to increasing club membership. The last
thing that we want to be is negative, but we do think it’s time for local
councils and politicians to be more creative and pro-active about how we deal
with these issues. We are living in challenging times but that’s all the more
reason to think hard and smart about how we deliver sport and physical activity
across the UK in the long-term, over the next twenty years.
David Rijvers (Chair, Richmond Volleyball),
the
primary aim for Volleyball (an Olympic Sport and as part of the legacy from the
Olympic Games) is to provide an affordable, community based facility that will
give young people and adults – irrespective of Social class, gender, ethnicity
or financial circumstances – the opportunity to develop through participation
in volleyball and fitness and related activities. It's very disappointing that the LBRuT has not fully participated in partnership with the Community sports groups
regarding it strategic commitment to sport and leisure for the borough. The community will have another obsolete
sports hall which is not a good return for tax payers, will not be “Fit for purpose”, "value for money" and will not
improve the sustainability for community sport.