New sports complex and care home approved in Amersham including padel courts and rugby pitches
A care home and sports development at an Amersham rugby club has been approved despite warnings from a resident.
Francis Charig claimed the application had “more holes than a Swiss cheese”, and raised concerns about noise. He was opposing plans brought forward by the Amersham and Chiltern Rugby Club in partnership with Zephyr X, including a three-storey 60-bed care home.
Changes to the clubhouse that would see the addition of a new manager’s office, a waiting room linking to a new gym, and improved facilities such as new ladies’ toilets.
Car parking will be reconfigured, with a coach turning area created and the north car park resurfaced and formalised to provide 86 spaces. A new Rugby Football Union-standard 3G artificial pitch is planned to replace the existing training pitch, which has suffered repeated flooding.
Four padel courts are proposed north of the new pitch, complete with enclosures, canopy covers and floodlighting to allow year-round play. Alongside them, a dedicated minis training area was also proposed.
Mr Charig was speaking at the east and south area planning committee where the application was approved subject to conditions. He said: “I’m facing in my garden going from 40 decibels, which is a normal, very quiet place, to doing the maths probably in excess of 100.
“It’s completely excessive.” He added that he regularly works outside in the summer taking calls and said he would lose that amenity as a result of the development.
The plans received 162 objections and 196 letters of support. Stephen Lawrence, who has been a coach, referee and volunteer at the club spoke in support of the application.
He said: “Although the club is supported by volunteers, it has significant costs to ensure that sport is played safely. The club just breaks even and so it’s unable to make the kind of dramatic investment that this opportunity offers.”
Cllr Clive Harriss, who sits on the planning committee, said: “This strikes me as quite an exciting proposal. It’s always difficult to fund these sort of things and difficult to keep clubs going.”
Members raised concerns over the width of the access road and the impact of the proposed padel courts on nearby residents.
They agreed to approve the plans subject to a number of conditions including hours of use being set on the padel courts and the 3G pitch.
In a post after the plans were approved the club said: “There is still work to do, but this is a major step forward in securing the future of A&C and delivering improved facilities for generations to come.”