Marquee is ‘vital’ for Bridgnorth rugby club’s future
Bridgnorth Rugby Club is asking for permission to use its temporary marquee for events for up to five years.
The club, which plays its games at the Edgar Davies Ground on Bandon Lane, has requested planning permission so it can put the marquee up between March and October each year.
The Midlands Premier League club, which has more than 650 members, has been using the marquee for events for the past two years, but requires planning consent to continue.
In a planning statement requesting permission, the club describes the plans as "pivotal to the future growth and success not only of our club but for Bridgnorth as a whole".
The marquee has been used for a host of events, including weddings, christenings, anniversaries, and club celebrations.
Club chairman Karen Sawbridge said it has also helped to raise tens of thousands for charity over the past two years.
She said: "It is not just the income it provides for the club. We have generated £70,000 in fundraising that we have given to charity over the past two years. That's a colossal amount of money."
The club is currently competing at the top of the Midlands Premier League, at its highest position ever.
The design and access statement submitted with the application outlines the ambition to continue to develop the club, and provide more opportunities for young people to play rugby.
It states: "Bridgnorth Rugby Club’s vision is to continue to be a club that top class players at Level 5 want to stay and play at, to develop our youth to enable them to stay and play at Bridgnorth and not have to move away to fulfil their potential.
"We want to continue to offer rugby for all levels, both social and competitive, with membership that is affordable for all. This vision, however, comes with a financial price. The income generated from the marquee not only helps our local charities and provides an outstanding venue for our community, it also ensures we remain, as a club, able to offer such an enviable level of rugby for children aged five plus to adults of ages.
"The revenue from the marquee is critical to our continued development and is pivotal to the future growth and success not only of our club but for Bridgnorth as a whole. Without this income our vision for the club and our goal for a new community sports facility will not be achievable."
The club has ambitions to create its own purpose built community sports facility, but says the money raised from the marquee will be key to the plan.
The design and access report states: "It is hoped to build a purpose-built community sports facility during that time to remove the need for the marquee, however, to realise this goal we will need the income generated from the marquee to support with this."
The application also outlines plans to make sure that events held in the marquee do no impact on nearby residents.
It states: "We understand there have been some of complaints regarding the noise generated by the marquee. We have worked with the Environment Agency and local residents to try to mitigate these issues.
"We ensure that we complete noise checks throughout events to ensure the volumes are within tolerance, we notify our neighbours in advance of events, we ensure we limit the number of events we hold that go beyond 9pm, we have invested in a silent disco to keep the levels to a minimum and we regularly meet with the effected parties to listen to their concerns and endeavour to resolve any issues they may have. Our aim is to build a sound-proofed facility in the future to further minimise any impact on our local community."
A decision will be taken on the application by Shropshire Council in the coming months.
