History of the Recreation Ground
A Little Bit of History
It has been a long and winding road for Charsfield Recreation Ground committee since its formation in January 2000. Progress has been slow but very sure. In 2004 we acquired the land behind South View, with the help of the then National Playing Field Association. Not the most ideal site but the best available.
Suffolk Coastal District Council granted outline planning permission for a Recreation Ground, with the proviso that a new vehicular access be provided to Chapel Lane and the NPFA stipulated that a fence be erected along the South West boundary. Together with the purchase of the land this accounted for all the funds raised so far but it was worth it as we at last had a recreation ground.
We then set about surmounting our two biggest problems – the slopes and the drainage!
How do you accommodate a tennis court, multi use games area, 5 Aside football pitch and children’s playground on a 20 o slope? It involves moving a lot of earth and keeping Suffolk Coastal District Council planning department happy.
The drainage was a very different problem. As most of you know the field can get very waterlogged and there have been problems with flooding in the Street in the past. We worked closely with the Environment Agency for about a year and came up with a design that met their criteria, and Government legislation. Surface water will be drained into a balancing pond on the lower part of the field and slowly released into the existing ditch along Chapel Lane. The pond will only contain low levels of water after storm conditions and will be little more than a shallow dip in the earth. Unfortunately, due to this new legislation, the cost of the drainage has increased by approximately £4,000 which has left us short of funds for other projects on the field. However, the drainage work starts in June and should be completed during July.
Tennis Courts & Multi Use Games Area
After many unsuccessful application grants and seminars on how to fill in the forms, we made the final of the Eastern Region BIFFAWARD, a grant offered by a landfill site operative.
We applied for enough money to provide a hard tennis court and an enclosed multi sport area (MUGA). Biffa provided £42,000 Charsfield Tennis Club £12,500 and the rest came from our own fundraising. We were lucky enough to win this grant and work started on the courts in August 2007 with the final stages of rolling and lining being completed in April 2008. We have applied for grants to obtain the necessary children’s sports equipment, a shed to store it in and a sports wall to practise against.
