During the past few weeks we have been aware of a number of rumours circulating about the City of Bath Petanque development of the new pétanque facilities at Larkhall Sports Club. The committee have agreed that to minimise any possible misunderstandings we would issue a newsletter outlining both the history of the project, progress to date, and proposed next steps.

History of the Project

In April 2013 we were approached by Larkhall Sports Club to see whether CoBPC would be interested in using part of their land that was formerly used by the cricket club which had recently disbanded. It was agreed within the committee that it provided the club with an opportunity to:

1. Develop our own piste without having to rely on the local council for both booking the area and paying them.

2. Use the existing LSC facilities: clubhouse with bar and kitchen and accessible WCs; parking, and floodlights.

3. Build a larger piste that would allow us to hold larger scale competitions as well as attracting both regional and possibly national tournaments.

4. Establish a permanent home for the club.

    

   During the summer a number of the committee members worked on ways to raise money to help develop the terrain, largely through pledges from members, and reviewed the opportunities for grants from other sources.

    

   In December we submitted a grant application to Sport England for 50% of the required funds (estimated at £46,000) and in April 2014 we were advised that we had been successful and would receive a grant for £23,000. The additional money was to be raised:

1. from a number of pledges that have been made by members

2. registering the Club as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) which will allow us to reclaim gift aid on pledges and any other donations made

3. and from existing funds already held by the club.

    

   The lease agreement and memorandum of understanding between the two clubs was signed in March 2014.

    

   As part of the research for the grant application, the original terrain specifications (taken from the EPA website) were provided to several builders. Only one quote was received (£21,000) and this was used as the figure for terrain construction in the grant application.

    

   The balance of the grant was for soil removal (£10k), Professional fees (£2k), Shelter (£4k), Building an access path (£4.5k) and a contingency (£3.5k)

    

   As the requirements of the Sports England grant are detailed and quite stringent the committee decided that the terrain should be professionally designed to ensure that the ground conditions and slope were properly addressed.

    

   It now seems that this original estimate did not take into account the amount of drainage needed, and the significant slope of the land. Initial feedback from contractors indicated that the cost of building the terrain may be significantly higher than originally anticipated

     

   Context: As outlined above, we need to do things 'by the book' in order to meet Sport England requirements. They will not release any grant money to the Club unless detailed and stringent requirements are met.

    

   Size and location of the terrain: 'approx 36m x 20m' is specified in lease agreement. LSC need to have access on all sides of the terrain for their tractor / mower to cut the grass and the hedge. LSC are keen to retain as much space as possible on the clubhouse side for football practice, and allow space to extend their car park on the upper field.

    

   Fencing: Fencing is needed on the West side of the terrain to prevent footballers using the practice pitch falling onto terrain. The level of the terrain above the ground on the East side means that fencing will also be required on this side to prevent players and boules going down the slope.

    

   Drainage: There is a spring in the football pitch meaning that both water from the spring and rainwater run-off need to be properly addressed.

    

   Disabled access: initial discussions with LSC indicated that wheelchair access could be via the existing concrete path with a new shallow gradient path constructed diagonally through the hedge line (following removal of this section of hedge). Since these initial discussions, LSC have installed additional WC facilities with concrete path and surrounds, which mean that this route can no longer be used. We will need to look at alternative means of wheelchair access.

    

   Planning: despite the commonly held view that planning consent is not required, B&NES planners have confirmed, both to Diana Lockwood and the Architect that both full planning and building regulation consent will be required, as this is regarded as 'development with engineering works'. This is regardless of whether we go for retaining walls or a banked earth method of construction. If it had been possible to proceed without planning consent, we would have done so. Sport England (as part of the condition of the grant) require confirmation of planning consent from the local planning authority or evidence that it is not required. Clearly B&NES will not provide the latter.

    

   Terrain design / specification: there is no single accepted method of terrain construction. Internet research reveals some common factors, but the actual materials and layers used need to address: soil type, slope, drainage, local rainfall.

    

   The EPA website gives dimensions for international level of competitions, however below this level the dimensions can vary once minimum piste size has been met. 

    

   Action / progress to date: 

• During March Diana Lockwood was appointed to project manage the design and construction of the terrain, and sub groups were formed to address fund-raising: C Bush, C J McGinn, A Robertson, D Greenaway, and project management: D Lockwood, C Bush, L Hall

• Early April: South Stoke Structures appointed to do engineering designs following proposals from 2 engineers and 1 surveyor

• During April meetings were held with both LSC and the engineers. Thorough research was done into terrain construction, and contact made with a number of clubs who have recently built pistes. The design specification was drawn up following this.       The original piste dimensions were to be 4m x 15m (+ additional space around edges to allow clearance) so that international level competitions could be held. The limited amount of space available between the football pitch and hedge meant that construction of retaining walls was recommended.

• Early May: initial engineering drawings from SSS

• Late May: confirmation from B&NES planners that the development would need planning and building control consent.

• Mid June: Andrew Peters was appointed to handle planning application (as this proved more complex than originally anticipated). Andrew had previously worked with LSC on their clubhouse extension (also Sport England funded).

• Early July: 7 building contractors invited to tender for contract - deadline for submissions was end of July.

• Mid July: early indications from contractors were that build cost would be considerably higher than anticipated, so tendering process halted, with the agreement of the committee. DL in discussions with engineers to look at options to reduce costs.

• End of July: B&NES planners request Flood Risk Assessment, although clarification of the size of the development means that this is no longer required. Still awaiting confirmation.

• Project sub group agreed to look at reduction in length of pistes to bring costs down, meaning that national level competitions would be ruled out.

• Early August: site meeting with engineers and further measuring on site indicate that reduction in size of pistes and some levelling of the slope beside the hedge would allow an earth banking method of construction to be used. Engineers calculate that this would reduce costs by £10k. Further savings can be made by omitting the shelter, and by reducing the fencing specification

Next steps and anticipated timescales:

The Club now needs to decide whether to go for a smaller terrain to save money, or whether to go for the size of piste that was originally planned that would allow the club to run larger scale events (with the potential to generate more income for the club) and raise additional funds to cover the build costs. As soon as the decision is made the engineers will be asked to modify the design if necessary. Plans and specifications will be reissued to the construction contractors who will be invited to submit tenders. The tenders will be checked by the engineer and the sub-group, and a contractor appointed.

Subject to the necessary funding being in place, we hope to start construction in the early summer of 2015. This is due to the availability of contractors and the need for the ground to be sufficiently dry to avoid plant churning up the ground too much, or getting stuck.

City of Bath Petanque Club committee remains enthusiastic about this development, and committed to completing the project. We believe that the number of club members will increase significantly and the planned facilities will enable the club to develop more highly skilled players, and offer the chance for more people to get involved in the sport of petanque.

For further information on construction side of the project please contact Diana Lockwood

If you would like to pledge financial support or would like more information on the financial aspects of this project, please contact Cary Bush