COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

The current indoor bowls facilities are based at Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre in Fairfax Street which is due to close



Plans to relocate the city’s indoor bowls facility at a cost of £2million will be heard by council cabinet members next month.

The decision to accept the plans would see the development of a new indoor bowls centre with six rinks at the Avenue Bowls Club, Gaveston Road, Coundon.

The relocation is expected to cost just over £2m, double what was originally predicted for the development, and will include changing facilities, toilets and office accommodation.

The current indoor bowls facilities are based at Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre in Fairfax Street, which is closing and being replaced with a new £37m waterpark in New Union Street.

The sports centre has a 50-metre Olympic pool and facilities for badminton, squash and table tennis.

The bowls plans are part of a wider strategy which the council says will see significant investment in the city’s sports and leisure facilities over the next few years.

Cabinet members are expected to make a decision regarding the bowls relocation plans on January 9, which will then be heard at a full council meeting a week later.

If the decision is made to go ahead with the plans, they will be subject to planning approval.

Bowls move will go ahead despite concerns residents' views have not been heard

Councillors voted in favour of the move, rejecting an amendment from the Conservative party to defer the decision to give local residents the chance to voice concerns over the new site’s impact on the community.

Conservative councillor Roger Bailey put forward a request to defer the decision for a month whilst a consultation with local residents took place, but the council voted against the motion.

Councillor Gary Ridley, leader of the Coventry Conservatives, claims the council have ‘rushed ahead’ with the plans, missing out on an opportunity to consult with the community.

He told the Telegraph: “When you look at this you’re talking about taking a relatively sleepy bowling club, that people are currently happy with, and making a substantial change without talking to the people that live there.

“We wanted to defer consideration until we can have that consultation with the local community and hear their concerns.

“The existing facilities have on average 11,000 visitors a year - so is this the right site? We don’t yet know what kind of impact it could have in terms of things like parking, access and transport on the local community.

“The council have rushed ahead in haste, and they haven’t taken these things into consideration at all.

“People are already angry. When this goes through the planning committee, they will be putting forward some forceful arguments and the council have missed out on an opportunity to talk to the community about their concerns early on.

“This is exactly the kind of thing that has a real impact on people’s every day lives.”

Coventry bowls club plan using £2m taxpayers' money set for approval despite protests



CONTROVERSIAL plans to build an indoor bowls club in Coventry using £2million of taxpayers’ money are set for planning approval – amid residents’ campaign.

Plans to create the new site at the council-owned Avenue Bowls Club on Gaveston Road are set for the go-ahead at a Coventry City Council planning committee meeting next Thursday (July 4).

The Coundon Residents Group (CRG) – formed in opposition to plans – says building the club at the site, in a quiet, residential neighbourhood, would not be appropriate.

A petition containing more than 232 signatures has been drawn up.

And a further 153 letters of objection have been lodged.

Officers say the £2million would come from either council borrowing or council funds which could include savings from closing other facilities. It would be partly paid back, they claim, via a commercial lease/rent agreement with the bowls club.

Some Labour and Conservative councillors have also condemned the plans.

Objections are centred on concerns about parking, traffic, harm to wildlife, noise and light pollution and the loss of a cherished allotment site.

Despite this, council officer Nigel Smith has recommended councillors approve the application by developers SNC Lavalin in a report prepared for the meeting.

The scheme comes after the decision to close the ‘outdated’ Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre in Fairfax Street, with the council seeking a new site.

The plans – first hatched nearly two years ago – sparked fury from people who are still demanding the use of a more appropriate site.

Residents claim sites on a long list of 18 alternatives outlined in a council feasibility study would be more suitable and cheaper.

They feel there must be a reason yet to be disclosed why the council seems intent on using the Gaveston Road site.

The CRG is headed by Jo and Paul Alcock. And in April, Paul told us: “If you consider that there is a reduced footfall by 20 per cent for indoor bowls use at the current facility, for them to squeeze a site in an area that is already known to have traffic problems, poor access, which is difficult to get to, away from the city centre just doesn’t make sense.

“You can’t hold national competitions here because you can’t get coaches here and get people in and out.

“There are other sites. The city centre would clearly be preferred if they want to grow the sport.”

They feel there must be a reason yet to be disclosed why the council seems intent on using the Gaveston Road site

Bowls plan deferred as committee “not convinced”



Controversial plans for an indoor bowls facility in Coventry have been deferred after a planning committee said they were “not convinced” on the location.

The committee also branded a sequential test into possible locations as unsatisfactory, urging for all alternative sites to be “exhausted” before a decision is made.

Campaigners hailed the outcome “a great result” for the city, having fought for the past 18 months for the council to look at ‘more suitable’ sites across Coventry.

Residents packed into a near two-hour long meeting on July 4 against the council's proposals for the £2 million facility at the Avenue Bowls Club on Gaveston Road, Coundon.

Two petitions totalling 350 signatures were submitted, backed by councillors Glenn Williams and Roger Bailey, who were two of eight objectors speaking against the plans.

Residents raised concerns of “serious safety issues” due to poor access, the 42-space car park, and potential overspill onto narrow residential streets.

The 4.7m roof of the building, reduced from 6.24m, would also “dwarf” neighbouring gardens, they argued, causing additional light and noise pollution.

No independent study was conducted into the best location for the site prior to the site being chosen, prompting residents to put forward 18 alternatives deemed more suitable.

The council discounted them based on finances, but Cllr Williams said residents were “never given a proper explanation as to why”, with questions ignored.

He added: “If we are going to as a council commit £2m the sites should be properly scrutinised to make sure we are spending it properly, as it’s taxpayers’ money.”

A statement read on behalf of former ward councillor Damian Gannon said no feasibility study had taken into account transport, access, or issues other than cost.

Urging for a deferral to enable a study into other locations, he said: “I have been dismayed by the council’s handling of what should have been a really good news story.”

Objector Paul Alcock, speaking after the meeting said: “It’s a great result for the Coundon Residents Group that have worked with residents for the last 18 months to put a case forward that there is a better site in Coventry to install indoor bowls so it can grow."

“We feel silenced” - council bans speakers at meeting



Upset residents said they feel “silenced” by a council policy barring them from speaking against plans for a controversial £2 million indoor bowls club.

Proposals for a new facility at the Avenue Bowls Club, on Gaveston Road, will be taken to a planning committee for the second time tomorrow (September 26.)

At the previous meeting in July, the committee deferred a decision as they were “not convinced” on the location and ordered a study into alternatives.

The subsequent study has again recommended the venue is built at the existing bowls club.

But those who spoke at the last meeting and want to comment further have been told by the council that they are not allowed to, despite a letter initially sent by the council’s head of planning Tracy Miller informing them they could.

The council has now told them that was sent by mistake, adding planning policy states people who have previously spoken on an item are unable to again.

But resident Jo Alcock said: “It is like we are being silenced.

“I do not know whether it is intentional. It just raises questions as to why.

“All we want is to find a more appropriate location and to be able to articulate our concerns over this current location.

“To achieve this there needs to be an opportunity to hear, listen and take on board residents’ comments.

“Collaboration is the way forward to gain a positive solution.”

Six residents and two councillors who spoke against the plans last time are unable to do so again, along with the applicant and the chair of the City of Coventry Indoor Bowls Club who spoke in support.

However, the chair of planning also has discretionary power to grant permission to speak.

Decision on controversial bowls plan faces further delay

Plans for an indoor bowls facility in Coventry have been deferred a second time after claims an offer to house the venue elsewhere had been ignored.

Coventry City Council wants to spend £2.05 million of taxpayers’ cash on the new venue as the current facility at the leisure centre is due to close.

But the location – proposed at the Avenue Bowls Club on Gaveston Road – has been hotly contested, with fears it will impact on neighbours and roads.

The application was taken to a planning committee for a second time on Thursday, September 26, after councillors had previously asked for a study into alternative sites to ensure all options had been exhausted.

Three sites were included in the review, put forward by the applicant, but all were discounted due to availability, with planning officers recommending the venture is given the green-light as there are no other suitable locations.

But councillors and planning officers came to a head after it was claimed Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club registered an interest to house the facility, but had been ignored.

Cllr John McNicholas said: “The secretary to me indicated she had actually made a request for consideration and had no response.

“That challenges the sequential test.”

The meeting was told 32 alternatives had been looked at in total, but the cricket club was not one of them.

Head of planning Tracy Miller said there had been no contact from the cricket club, but expressed doubt in the bowls facility being feasible at the site “without impact on the other facilities”.

However, Cllr Naeem Akhtar called it an “ideal site” as the cricket venue already has capacity for other sports including tennis.

When questioned on why it hadn’t been included in any study, planning policy manager Mark Andrews added assessments on other locations focused on where there were “other bowls facilities”.

But in the recent study where three alternative sites were considered, the three alternatives looked at car parks – a contradiction Cllr McNicholas challenged.

“We have a sequential assessment for car parks, but we have not assessed a ground that has sports facilities?” he said.

“More work needs to be done so that ultimately we are satisfied that the sequential test has been properly considered.”

Chair of the meeting Cllr Lindsey Harvard recommended the committee could delegate approval to himself and deputy Cllr Randhir Auluck, rather than bring it back to a second committee.

But Cllr David Skinner, who said he was “baffled”by the cricket club revelation, argued the application was “public interest” and shouldn’t be decided behind closed doors.

The committee agreed to defer the decision so the option of housing the venue at the cricket club could be explored.