10:50am Tuesday 14th July 2009
By Katie Adams
A cricket club has applied to put in practise nets on land next to a primary school following a 10-month fundraising mission.
Beanacre Cricket Club, which has played on the King George V playing field in Melksham for the past 30 years, wants to put in two practise nets and an artificial bowling strip on a piece of derelict land near to King’s Park Primary School. The land is part of the playing field, which is managed by Wiltshire Council on behalf of the National Playing Fields Association.
The cricket club has submitted a planning application to Wiltshire Council after almost reaching the £20,000 needed for the project, which will help to develop young sporting talent.
Chairman of the club, Phil McMullen, said: “Beanacre is at present the only club in west Wiltshire which is able to provide young people with the facilities and qualified coaches that they need to progress.
“In order to provide the best possible facilities, the club is badly in need of cricket practise nets and an artificial bowling strip.”
Mr McMullen said the club has two Wiltshire League senior sides and also plays mid-week and Sunday friendly fixtures.
As well as this, they also have a youth cricket programme in place, with up to 100 young people aged between five and 15 years old from the Melksham area turning up for coaching each week.
He said: “The fundraising project began in October 2008 and we are now close to finding the £20,000 that’s needed, hence the planning application.
“It is hoped that enough funds will be raised to enable work to start on building the protective cage for the nets at the end of the season in October.”
The club has received help and support from various local organisations and has been helped by Community First, The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon and Sport England.
He said: “Needless to say, if any other companies, charities or organisations would like to help us reach our final target, we’d be very pleased to hear from them.”
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