Broom Road Recreation Ground - Proposal to Develop Two Volleyball Court

Overview

Two tennis/netball courts are provided at Broom Road Recreation Ground. Their condition has been declining over the last few years though there continues to be some casual use of these courts. There is no charge for their use.

A new multi-use games area was provided on Broom Road as part of the rebuilding of Teddington School and this contains 3 tennis courts and 2 netball courts. These facilities are available for use by the community out of school hours and are managed by Teddington Sports Centre. There is a charge for use of these courts that is in line with charges across the Council's Sport & Fitness Service.

A condition survey has been undertaken on the original 2 tennis / netball court site. In summary, the report concluded that they were in a poor condition & consideration should be given to closing to carry out remedial works to bring them back into a useable condition at a substantial cost to the council.

An alternative option to these remedial works would be to convert the 2 courts into 2 / 3 beach volleyball courts.

Beach volleyball is an Olympic Sport and as part of the legacy from the Olympic Games, the National Governing Body, Volleyball England, is looking to develop a network of beach volleyball courts across the country. The Council's Sport & Fitness Service has been working with Richmond Volleyball Club to try to identify a site in the Borough which can be developed for beach volleyball.

The new beach volleyball facility would be managed by Teddington Sports Centre, who would be responsible for bookings, management, maintenance and future investment into the facility.

The main community user would be Richmond Volleyball Club, but Teddington Volleyball Club have also expressed an interest as well as the courts being offered to local schools including nearby Teddington School.

Works to develop beach volleyball courts would involve:

- Replacement of parts of the existing fencing, i.e. chain link with weld mesh

- Removal of pitch furniture and sockets

- Removal of existing macadam surface

- Grading of existing sub-base

- Supply and lay pea shingle

- Remove existing concrete edgings and replace with edgings that will allow for the sand layer

- Import sand

The Sport & Fitness Service will work with local partners, including Richmond Volleyball Club, to prepare and submit applications for external funding from possible sources such as Sport England, Volleyball England, The Mayor's Fund and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.