Bath Chronicle 1 October 2005
Rec revolution – consortium warns city risks missing out on benefits of Olympics if it can’t agree
by Ben Murch
An ambitious vision for the future of Bath’s Recreation Ground was unveiled last night.
A consortium of business people want to see the city’s leisure facilities transformed with a new stadium, sports complex and river crossings.
And they warn that the city risks missing out on the benefits of the 2012 Olympics unless there is agreement on future development.
About 200 people attended the public meeting to find out more about the controversial proposals to redevelop the area around Bath Rugby’s ground, the cricket ground and the city’s leisure centre.
Those present included city MP Don Foster, Bath and North East Somerset Council leader, Cllr Paul Crossley, and Bath Rugby’s general manager, Bob Calleja.
The BathSport consortium has floated the idea of a new rugby ground and world class community sports facilities on the site.
But, at the moment, the consortium has no funding to turn the vision into reality.
The idea is being aired as Bath Rugby itself prepares to put in a planning application for a 15,000-capacity stadium at the Rec, with a new horseshoe-shaped seating area.
A whole raft of political and legal regulations govern the Rec, which is managed by an independent Charity Commission-regulated trust, and where a fierce debate has raged over the club’s future use of the land.
But business consultant Andrew Mercer, one of the driving forces behind the consortium and its Bath Royal Forum development plans, said that action was needed in the next 18 months to progress their vision.
He warned that the city’s chances of attracting a national Olympic team to make Bath its base for the 2012 Games could be severely compromised unless there was new development at the Rec.
Stressing that BathSport was made up of individuals, and represented neither Bath Rugby nor anyone with a financial interest in developing the site, Mr. Mercer said:
“We will have some debates about how this will be used for the community. If it is to work, there needs to be something for everybody, not just Bath Rugby. We are going to have to be reconciled that it is going to have to be paid for somehow and there will have to be compromises.”
He said that Bath has a fantastic opportunity to capitalise on the 2012 Olympics, but that University of Bath director of sport Ged Roddy had told him that the status of the Rec needed to be resolved.
He added: “If we haven’t sorted this out with the Rec, and we don’t have a proposal within 18 months, Ged thinks we will have missed the boat.”
He said that BathSport would work with the council to ensure that the plans dovetailed with the authority’s Future for Bath strategy.
As part of the presentation the audience was shown a video juxtaposing the best of Bath – iconic landmarks such as the abbey, Stall Street, and the Roman baths – with its crumbling and outdated sports facilities.
Keith Bradley, of world renown practice Fielden Clegg Bradley, has drawn up the speculative proposals.
He said the plans envisaged a new solar panel roofed stadium and indoor arena built on the site of the Pavilion and Bath Sports and Leisure Centre.
This would free up land currently used by Bath Rugby for green space and restore the city to its Georgian glory and fulfil an unrealised ambition of John Wood the Elder, the architect who, with his son, shaped Bath back in the 18th century.
There would be an uninterrupted view of green space across the river from the city, leading up to the hills above Bathwick.
Footbridges could also be built between Parade Gardens and the Rec, creating a “green lung” in the heart of Bath.
The key to the whole development was making it interlinked and developing the space as one unit, as apposed to the piecemeal development currently in place.
Mr. Calleja gave an enthusiastic, but cautious, welcome to the proposals.
Local resident Robert Rhodes said he feared the plans would spoil his view, but agreed something should be done.
A representative of the Pulteney Estate Residents’ Association said that its own poll of 480 homes in the area showed two-thirds support for development.
The plans can be seen online at www.bathsport.org
top
|
