Forum Topic

Gunnersbury Park Bowls Club

Some may have noticed the item on the front page of TW8 regarding the meeting of Hounslow Planning Committee on 20 January. One item on the agenda that is of particular local interest is the planning application for the change of use and extension of the Bowls Pavilion at Gunnersbury Park to create a cafe/restaurant. The change of use of the bowling green itself to a mini golf facility would not need planning permission but approval of the application for the Bowls Pavilion would almost certainly see an end to bowling in Gunnersbury Park, a sport that has been played there since 1931.It would be good if you could write a short email to the members of the Planning Committee listed in the item on the front page of TW8. Please respond, irrespective of whether you are for or against this proposal.      

Jim Storrar ● 1197d18 Comments

About time preservation orders should be allocated to the bowling greens and allotments.

Sarah Felstead ● 1157d

Turning a long established and cultivated bowling green into crazy golf is a total insult.  There are other rough areas of the park which could be cultivated into crazy golf without destroying the green of the bowls pitch.  I think somebody is having a laugh at the Boroughs expense.

Sarah Felstead ● 1162d

I think we need to look at the PR regarding bowls and rethink the scope of the people using the space.We have sports colleges in West London, how do they use the bowls green spaces?  Yes, through a sports college... or are sports colleges only about rough sports as played through the last half of the last century.  How are they expending their sports to fit in with the expanding Olympic sports?  My sons were only offered the same 1950’s sports when they went to school, so by now the colleges must have changed to acknowledge some pupils won’t do well at rugby yet would be amazing at ice skating ( a short journey along the M4 to slough) ice hockey and of course, bowls.  What about the skills developed in learning and playing other sports?One of my sons was keen at fishing ( there are an amazing array of skills developed through fishing including taking care of the fish and wild life ) and he knew several school friends who all fished but all who would not discuss their fishing at school because of possible ridicule. They were pretty fearful of this. Another of my sons learnt to ice skate at weekends so he could learn to play ice hockey.  He bumped into another lad from school at the rink who was VERY good at ice skating, and again he asked my son not to say he went ice skating because of fear of ridicule.  The thing is, it was quite a canny thing to do, learning to ice skate, because he was surrounded by girls!I recently threw away a pile of old school newsletters and the same pupils names were mentioned over and over again in each letter - for the rugby, and football yet the school had a roll of hundreds.With the notion of expanding health and fitness and fun for all sports, we cannot afford to close down bowling greens.

Sarah Felstead ● 1162d

You are, of course, absolutely right, had there been any interest whatsoever by the CIC in liaising with the community and arriving at a solution to accommodate both bowls and crazy golf.

Bela Cunha ● 1186d

I know, that's why I said here used to be a pitch and putt, and a very good one, and the crazy golf course would take up a lot less space so would be relatively easy to accommodate alongside the bowls.

Keith Iddon ● 1187d

It's not pitch and putt, it's crazy golf: all gaudy colours, plastic grass, plastic palm trees, etc.

Bela Cunha ● 1187d

Seems like real mean spirited thin end of the wedge stuff when the pleasure, enjoyment and leisure activity of a long established group of people who take this pastime seriously has to make way for frivolous crazy golf, which is not something anyone takes seriously nor will play regularly.There used to be the best 9 hole pitch and putt course that I have ever seen or played on the park.If the plans for the new course take the size of a bowling green, surely a similar sized area can be found on this huge park to put it on, so that both facilities can go hand in hand?

Keith Iddon ● 1187d

The current situation shows where Parks are falling down. Poor condition of Pathways and poor grounds maintenance. Real basics.The CIC seem obsessed with the Museum and buildings which still largely have no public full use.But the actual grounds have a lot of use.  By runners, walkers, dog walkers, cyclists and simply to play in.That's what a Park is all about but it seems to be all about turning the place into some sort of Knebworth or Syon House location - which it cannot ever really be.It is a public facility.

Raymond Havelock ● 1187d

Just a short PS: Guy Lambert claims they expect 30,000 visitors a year. That works out at 100 people a day every day for 300 days, or 10 months of the year, excluding, say January and February, but without taking any account of bad weather at other times.

Bela Cunha ● 1188d

All questions you could direct at Councillor Guy Lambert, who decided to call it in when it was set for refusal for a second time.I, too, have been watching the bowls World championship from Potters and noticed, not only how young they all are, but how they explained that bowls had enriched their lives in other ways apart from the sporting side: the widening of their circle of friends and how they have travelled not just in this country but also abroad. Bowls is now very popular in Australia among young people.

Bela Cunha ● 1188d

BBC getting very good ratings for the coverage of the Championship Bowls at Potters.Notable is that most of the top Men and Women players are much younger and prove it's a sport for all ages. Not many Sports that can be local can boast that.Why on earth did this get called in when it's so obviously unacceptable?Simply because it's easy to prey on older citizens who just want to play Bowls and are not of any significance?  Certainly seems like that.And it's not a Pitch and Putt, as keeps getting mentioned. That excellent facility, an 18 hole jewel of Gunnersbury Park,  packed with rare bird species, fauna and Flora was abolished and desecrated by the CIC running the Park. It's now a glorified Dog toilet and Foraging ground and has ruined the unique and well established ecoculture of the area.  Job well done Gunnersbury CiC! Go to the top of the class.This is a Crazy Golf and Pizzeria, akin to a Disney World amusement. An expensive occasional treat sort of thing.  Not a proper amenity or something local people of any age and origin can affordably belong to and use. I understand that there are some far better locations in the Park that would not involve the wrecking of the Bowls Club or any other existing facility. Why are these not being  promoted?

Raymond Havelock ● 1188d

I was a member of this club. It was extremely well run and supported by local residents for nearly 100 years.CIC were simply appalling in there refusal to extend our licence.They gave no explanation for ending this sport which was enjoyed by many retired people for so long.Capel College agreed to maintain the green with our assistance and using their students to gain experience.Everyone in the community gained yet CIC were blind to the community benefit even when Sport England supported the Bowls Club.All the new Gunnersbury maps still show the club.Why were CIC so short sighted? Shame on all the Committee Members involved,you have ruined a 100 years of good health for the elderly.

Steve Crelley ● 1189d

It is wonderful to see that everybody is so supportive. That's what gives us the strength to carry on fighting, together with our belief that our cause is just and for the good of the community now and for future users of the park. So why do the powers-that-be-not listen?

Bela Cunha ● 1189d

The Planning Committee, at their meeting on 20 January, resolved to defer a decision on the planning application for the site of the Bowls Club. This is a much better decision than a permission but an outright refusal would have been by far the best outcome for us. The fight goes on!

Jim Storrar ● 1189d

Many thanks for your support, Raymond. We agree with all that you say.

Jim Storrar ● 1192d

Fully support this as when it's gone it's gone.Surely as mentioned theres a better location for Crazy Golf. It's not a sport it's an amusement and looks more like a thinly veiled excuse for a catering outlet.Bowls is as important part of the fabric of community as ducks in the pond. While it does have the image of being for older people ( and theres's nothing wrong with that, we hopefully will all get older sometime in life!) it's played worldwide and from early teens.  It is a proper sport just not an aggressive shouty one.

Raymond Havelock ● 1192d

Hi Neil,Pre-covid the membership was about 23. However they were mostly, but not all, quite elderly and they became throughly demoralised by the behaviour of the Community Interest Company.Recently, a very low-key membership campaign has almost doubled the membership to about 44. The problem now (and it is not the bowling season) is that members have been denied access to the site and the bowls green is in need of a good deal of TLC. It is recoverable but it urgently needs to be treated if we are not lose it after 90 years of use. The soil is wonderful, the perfect medium for a great bowls green, but also the perfect medium for weeds!

Jim Storrar ● 1194d

How many active members had the club pre Covid?

Neil Chippendale ● 1194d