AN amended set of plans for a £3.1 million upgrade of Oakfield Sports Centre is due to go before the Planning Committee this week.
The application, which has been submitted by Stewart Gibson, of Space and Place, on behalf of the government, details plans for a new three-court sports hall – which could accommodate several sports including badminton, basketball and five-a-side football – to be built at the site.
The move follows the announcement of a proposed ‘decant’ of sport from Fort Regent ahead of the site’s planned regeneration.
A previous planning application for Oakfield was refused in October after committee members raised concerns over parking arrangements as well as the size and design of the proposed building. The decision led to fiscal-stimulus funding for the project being withdrawn.
Afterwards, Assistant Economic Development Minister Hugh Raymond, who has responsibility for sport, said he would fight ‘tooth and nail’ to get the new facility built and that he was looking at other ways of raising the money for the project.
Andy Scate, director general of the Growth, Housing and Environment Department, previously warned that if the application was not allowed to go ahead it could derail a wider initiative designed to improve sports facilities.
The revised plans for the site have been recommended for approval by planning officers.
A report accompanying the application says: ‘The site is already in use for traditional sports facilities, so there is no change of use and no vegetation would be lost.
‘Mindful of the Planning Committee reasons for refusal, the applicant has worked with officers to produce a revised scheme which uses more coloured fabric to the elevations of the hall, an increased use of more natural-timber cladding and a reduction in height of the building by 800mm, while not adversely impacting internal use.’
It adds: ‘These changes, (albeit retaining the essential shape and form of the last refusal), in addition to the increased planting to the Highlands Lane/Wellington Road site frontage and… green floodlighting columns and green fencing, helps to screen the development from outside the site, while producing a more pleasing design aesthetic.’
If planning permission is given, it is hoped that the work will be completed by May next year.
The Planning Committee is due to meet at 9.30am on Wednesday at St Paul’s Centre. Members of the public are entitled to attend.
