Bath Chronicle Comment -1 October 2005
Extra time in debate on Rec
On a crisp autumn day, it’s a peaceful spot. You’d scarcely believe it was at the centre of what is arguably the bitterest development debate in Bath.
Yet the recreation Ground and the area around it has become a symbolic battleground in the war of attrition between the city’s conservation lobby and business leaders keen to create facilities for a new century.
Because of this, a fair amount of logic and common sense has gone out of the window.
Trying to find an unbiased and objective opinion on the Rec is a needle-in-a-haystack exercise, with the debate generating rather more heat than light.
There are complex issues involved, with arcane legal covenants and strange charitable trusts at the heart of the land’s future.
But at the end of the day, there is a simple question to be answered.
How do we accommodate a modern, commercial sporting organisation with deep-rooted community links in the 21st century?
Bath Rugby’s spiritual home is the Rec and that’s where it and its fans want to stay.
Throw in the outdated sports centre and the drive to put the city in the vanguard of the 2012 Olympic efforts, and you have a compelling argument for development of some sort.
At the moment, the Rec is in danger of becoming fossilised as a slow-motion political dance plays itself out.
The rugby club has announced it intends to show its hand with a new planning application.
But we should also take heed of the proposals unveiled by a consortium of experts at a meeting in the city last night. They should be congratulated for trying to unlock the logjam, and for doing it in a way that brings architectural creativity into play.
We are approaching extra time in the debate over the Rec. If we do not act soon, the whistle will blow on any chance of establishing Bath as a centre of sporting inspiration and excellence.
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