The official opening of the new Sports Pavilion at Bowerhill Sports Field will take place on Saturday 19th September, just before 10.00am, Melksham Without Parish Council has announced.
The event will give the opportunity for local people to come and see the new pavilion. There will also be a chance to look around the new changing room facilities (4 changing rooms and 2 official changing rooms). The pavilion also has a new kitchen and lounge area, this is available for use by local community groups.
The pavilion used to be the home of the Bowerhill Youth Club, and the aim is to get the youth club up and running again; there will plenty of chance at the event to have your say – particularly the young people – as to what they want from a youth club.
The parish council has fought for 15 years to save the playing field, with an extensive survey being undertaken in 2010 when Bowerhill residents were asked if they would like to see the playing field protected in perpetuity, with a resounding 97.5% of those voting saying “yes!”
In view of this overwhelming community mandate, the Melksham Area Board formally approved the transfer of the sports field (5.34 hectares) from Wiltshire Council to the parish council on 28th July, 2010.
During 2012, Fields in Trust (National Playing Fields Association) ran their flagship programme “The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge.” This aimed to protect outdoor recreational spaces across the UK to create a grassroots legacy from the momentous events of 2012: Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
On 1st June 2012 the Bowerhill Sports Field became a “Field in Trust” and is therefore protected in perpetuity as a recreational space. Since then, it is now officially known as the “Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Sports Field Bowerhill”.
The new pavilion is the next chapter of the story. Herman Miller are currently relocating into their new manufacturing and logistics centre on the old “running track” land behind Christie Miller Sports Centre.
As part of their construction project they have built a new road to link Portal Way with the existing Industrial Estate at Westinghouse Way; this necessitated the demolition of the old sports pavilion, originally built in the 1940s by the RAF. Before the old pavilion could be knocked down, a new pavilion has been constructed by Herman Miller as part of the scheme agreed by Wiltshire Council, which has been handed over to the parish council.
