A VISION for a brand new village sports pavilion has been unveiled in Bere Alston.
A dramatic curved roof and glazed cafe windows with wood effect front are the suggested key visual features of the replacement pavilion on the village recreational field off Down Road.
Bere Ferrers parish councillor Brian Lamb said: “This is a big step forward in our plans for an exciting future for community sport and other activities on the peninsula.
“Our architect has come up with an amazing looking design which also fulfils the brief to support four clubs, Bere Alston FC and three junior clubs and rounders team with potential for use by other groups.
“The design will now go to the public to see what they think and the parish council for final approval.
“It is certainly an impressive start to the sports development plan we have which has consulted with villagers and aims to bring rugby, cricket and women’s football.
“We have already started a rounders group and ringed the pitch with a path. It’s all about getting a many more people of all ages involved in sport as possible to create added community spirit and improve fitness.”
He said too much money was being spent on keeping the current 1950s pavilion usable. The funds could be better spent on sports.
The design has been made possible by a £2,000 donation from Devon county councillor for Yelverton Philip Sanders.
The designer is architect Steve Rickard who has 40 years’ experience of designing 25 leisure centres.
He said: “I’m proud to be asked to help with Bere Alston’s new sports pavilion. I’ve followed best practice as required by Sport England to support community sports.
“I have lots of experience designing larger leisure centres for public bodies and this is a scaled down version, but follows the same principles and takes into account the limitations of resources and need to reduce building costs and maintenance.”
The new building, to replace the aging pavilion, follows Sport England standards and requirements to support community sport and is designed for use by a range of sports and community recreational groups.
Inside there are two main changing rooms, 18 square metres each, adjoining showers and toilets, two match officials’ rooms, each with a toilet and shower.
Also a cafe/meeting room is in the front with large widows overlooking the pitches for spectators. The overhanging roof also allows shelter outside. A unisex accessible toilet is also designed for outside of the front of the building, allowing use by the public without the need to go into the pavilion.
A small office with a wall-mounted pull-down bed over a desk will double as a first-aid room offering easy access to an ambulance if needed.
The design is based on an underlying wooden frame built off-site and transported in sections to the site to reduce costs.
On Saturday, April 12, at 2.30pm the parish council will hold a consultation session on the pavilion and community sports in the village hall for any residents.
