Work starts on a new community hub and sports facility in Borden
17
Oct
A ground-breaking ceremony has taken place to mark the start of work on a new facility which will provide a sports club and community building for the local community. It will also become the new home for Sittingbourne Rugby Club with improved sports facilities and state-of-the-art pitches.
Kevin McKenna, MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey, joined Sittingbourne Rugby Club and Quinn Estates on site in Borden on Friday 11 October for the traditional start to the build.
The project will deliver six-changing rooms and physiotherapy space, plus a social area with a bar and kitchen that opens out onto a balcony overlooking two new state-of-the-art pitches.
The two pitches will meet both Sports England and Rugby Football Union standards, allowing the club to build upon the success and growth of its junior teams.
The new sports facility will provide Sittingbourne Rugby Club with a permanent base for the first time, having previously shared the home of Gore Court Cricket Club.
Club president Roger Down, said: “This is a truly defining moment for the club and for the local community. It’s been a long wait to get to this point and we’re grateful to Quinn Estates for the support it has shown in supporting our dream of securing a new permanent home.
“This is the start of an exciting new chapter for us and for the local community too. They will have the use of both clubhouse and pitches, including being able to come and support our home games. We can’t wait to welcome them along.”
Ben Geering, Planning Director at Quinn Estates, said: “We’re delighted to be starting work on a new permanent home for Sittingbourne Rugby Club. It is part of our commitment to a development that not only delivers high-quality homes but goes the extra mile in providing wider benefits for the community.
“Exciting projects like this involve a huge number of people and on behalf of the club and Quinn Estates we are especially thankful to Stuart Mair from The William Barrow’s Charity, Barratts PLC and Robert Hinge and James Mair from A.Hinge & Sons for funding contributions.
It would appear that just like the development it is attached to, this new facility is also proving to be controversial with local residents, not least because of the way in which it is promoted as a new clubhouse for the rugby club when in fact it is a facility for the whole community. The facility will then be managed by an as yet to be established Management Committee whose membership will include Borden Parish Council.
Andy Hudson
Sittingbourne.Me