By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Rushcliffe Borough Council has kicked out a long-standing bowls club from its venue in a bid to make better use of the space.
Rushcliffe Indoor Bowls Club, which has been running from Rushcliffe Arena since 1991, will have to close as a result of the decision.
The Conservative-run authority made the decision to close the bowls hall on Tuesday, July 13, and covert the space into a place that serves ‘a wider demographic of users’.
The council’s cabinet said a dwindling total of club members – there are around 170 currently – meant the space was not being used to its full advantage.
Instead the council is to pump £60,000 into the hall to convert it into a space for other sporting activities and exercise classes including short mat bowls as well as non-sporting events such as elections.
Councillor Simon Robinson, leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, said: “As a council you have to make tough decisions. We do have to analyse all our assets and look at the usage of the bowls facility. For a third of the year, we have an empty facility.
“This is a tough decision – we are not about closing facilities.”
The secretary of the bowls club, Irene Herod, 71, who has been a member since 1992, said some members are attempting to fight the decision ‘lock, stock and barrel’ and intended to organise a protest.
The Rushcliffe Indoor Bowls Club have played at Rushcliffe Arena since the early 1990s when membership stood at more than 1,000.
The old Arena, on the same site, housed an eight-rink bowls facility with bar and lounge. This was reduced to six rinks with no bar or lounge when the new arena was built in January 2017.
The council said this reduction of facilities was ‘a recognition at the time that the club membership was declining’ and ‘the sport becoming less popular’.
The bowls hall generated an income prior to the coronavirus pandemic of £25,000 per year compared to £70,000 from the Arena’s sports hall.
It said the bowls hall sits empty for long periods, with 4,889 visits in the year – around 13 a day.
Mrs Herod said: “The club will close. We have been there since 1991. Rushcliffe Arena was originally opened as an indoor bowls hall. It was run by the council and dedicated to bowls.
“We are in an unfortunate position that numbers are dwindling and that is happening across the country. Young members are not coming in as quickly as older ones who are leaving the sport.
“I think there is a mixed feeling. We reluctantly accept the inevitability of it. Using the hall for group exercise is more lucrative. I understand the council wanted to get their money back.
“We have some members who are being very vocal and want to fight it lock, stock and barrel and stand outside with banners.”
She believes the closure will affect some older members’ mental health who will not “socialise to the extent they did before because they socialised through bowls”.
The council said both it and Lex Leisure, which runs Rushcliffe Arena, has offered ‘extensive support and investment’ to drive numbers up but it had not been possible.
The report to cabinet states: “There is a strong feeling, expressed by the club committee itself, that the club would be unable to continue at another venue and would likely cease.
“Displaced members may stop taking part in physical activity and lack of social contact for displaced bowlers may lead to isolation and loneliness.
“The council will work closely with our leisure provider to ensure displaced members have access to alternative forms of exercise and social activity.”
Councillor Rod Jones (Lib Dem) expressed his opinion at the cabinet meeting before the council decided to make the decision to close the bowls hall.
He said the council had “failed” was “wasting its investment in the bowling facility”.
Councillor Abby Brennan (Con), Portfolio Holder for Communities and Climate Change, said that despite the large number of older people in the borough the club ‘cannot contain members’.
She said it was ‘no longer viable’ as a bowls hall.
Councillor Rob Inglis (Con), Portfolio Holder for Environment and Safety, added: “It is very sad after several years of support to boost membership, but the usage keeps falling and the space is empty for several months of the year. This cannot be acceptable.
“We must be pragmatic. This will never be a situation that pleases everyone.”
