Bishop’s Stortford rugby club converted a funding pitch into a £150,000 grant and the town council was bowled over by a £22,250 bid from the cricket club.
At a special meeting on Saturday (November 20) at South Mill Arts, town councillors also flicked the switch on floodlight proposals from Hockerill Sports Club and boosted Thorley Cricket Club’s building plans.
In all, they provisionally allocated grants of £250,000 to improve sports facilities across the town, benefitting over 3,000 club members and the wider community.
Bishop’s Stortford RFC at Silver Leys has embarked on a £775,000 project to upgrade its changing facilities. Cllr George Cutting said he was pleased to support the application, which would promote participation by female and youth teams.
Bishop’s Stortford Cricket Club received the £22,250 it requested towards the cost of a £44,500 junior pitch. Cllr David Snowdon, chairman of the finance committee, said it was important to encourage early involvement in the sport.
Hockerill Sports Trust was awarded £30,000 of the £40,152 it asked for towards £70,152 required to replace its LED floodlights with more efficient and environmentally-friendly models. Cllr Shane Manning said the trust deserved support for its work with the disabled.
Thorley Cricket Club was granted £47,750 of the £105,000 it requested towards replacing its clubhouse at a cost of £225,000.
Cllr John Wyllie, the town council’s leader, said: “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to help Thorley Cricket Club, which has been a major part of Thorley Park for many years. The new facility will allow the club to increase their offering to residents old and new.”
In all, eight sporting projects totalling more than £612,000 were pitched to the council during a mammoth session.
Bishop’s Stortford Canoe Club asked for £12,595 towards a £15,095 project to increase the number of young paddlers it can support.
Windhill21 Primary School wants to build a £145,791 multi-use games area and requested £132,540 from the town council.
Bishop’s Stortford Lawn Tennis Club asked for £50,000 to boost its £250,000 scheme to introduce padel to the town.
And The Bishop’s Stortford High School set out its case for £100,000 towards a £790,000 all-weather rugby and football pitch.
The mayor, Cllr Keith Warnell, who chaired the meeting, said: “We had great presentations from all the applicants. Sadly, we were not able to allocate funds to everyone who applied, but I wish them well in their fundraising.”
The losers will be eligible to bid for a share of £6.4m which the town council is expected to allocate next year, but they will face tough competition from other major capital spending on South Mill Arts and the council’s own sporting ambitions. The £6.4m was generated by the sale of former allotment land to education authority Herts County Council for the new Avanti Meadows Primary School.
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