New Peterborough sports pavilion approved despite objection from residents
Plans have been approved for a new community sports pavilion on playing fields just outside of Peterborough.
The facility, named the Woodlands Pavilion, will be located at the Woodlands sports pitches off Splash Lane in Castor.
The Nene Park Trust, which took over the Woodlands area in 2017, submitted a planning application for the new pavilion to Peterborough City Council in 2023, with an aim to ensure that sport could continue in the area for future generations.
The pavilion will be located centrally within the existing sports field and will incorporate a number of changing rooms, a small kitchen and a multi-purpose sports hall.
It is envisaged that it will be used by the wider community of Peterborough for a number of activities including sports, training, meetings, education, health and wellbeing.
A city council planning committee met on July 29 and unanimously agreed with the case officer’s recommendation to grant planning permission for the pavilion.
This was despite objections from the local parish councils, 36 residents and Sport England.
At the meeting, David Shaw of Castor Parish Council argued that the proposed pavilion was “in the wrong location and too large” and that the reorganisation of the existing pitches may lead to noise complaints from nearby residents.
Speaking on the application, he told planning committee members: “It places a large pavilion right in the middle of probably the best playing fields in Peterborough.
“By doing so, it reduces the amount of playing field space by 20 per cent and severely limits the flexibility of using the pitches.”
Despite the concerns of Mr Shaw and a local resident Helen Daly, who also spoke in opposition to the plans at the meeting, committee members agreed that they could find no reason to refuse planning permission.
Speaking in support of the application, Nicola Craven, head of development at the Nene Park Trust, said: “These pitches are used by Thorpe Wood Rangers FC and four local cricket clubs with over 200 football matches and 70 cricket matches played each year.
“The proposed pavilion will provide the essential infrastructure to support this activity, offering proper changing rooms, a multi-purpose hall and accessible facilities that are currently lacking.”
The application was supported by the Football Foundation and England & Wales Cricket Board, despite the loss of a non-turf cricket pitch.
Thorpe Wood Rangers FC and a local cricket club also backed the pavilion plans.
The pavilion will be served by a new 40-space car park to the south of the building and the existing car parking to the south-east, which also serves the adjacent care facility.
A separate application for five new tennis courts on the site is expected, with Castor and Ailsworth Tennis Club having an agreement in place to relocate there, according to planning documents.
Woodlands became a sports facility in the late 1980s when Pearl Assurance moved its main operation from London to Peterborough and provided sport and recreation facilities for its staff.
This saw the construction of a large sports building with a hall, gym, squash courts and snooker room along with extensive social areas.
The building closed in 2005, although the pitches and outdoor facilities remained in use for a few more years until the trust took over in 2017.