Bowling News
Last Tuesday I was invited by Greenhead Park BC to attend with them a meeting with Kirklees Council about the threat to park greens in 14 different park locations. This meeting was primarily about the threat to the two greens at Greenhead Park and was part of a series of consultation meetings that Kirklees Council officers are having at each location. The information gathered from these meetings will contribute to any decision on the future of these greens.
Also in attendance were representatives from Greenhead Park Bowling Club, Friends of Greenhead Park, Huddersfield Veterans League and the Huddersfield Bowling Development Association. The greens are also used by other bodies including Greenhead College and by a croquet club. The two greens have not been maintained at all since the end of the summer season and are showing the clear signs of neglect.
The Kirklees officers outlined the extent of the savings that they have been tasked to find to contribute to the one-third reduction in their budget. The closure of all 14 bowling greens in Kirklees parks would contribute a total of £90,000 towards the total savings required. This equates to around £6,500 per green every year making that a target of £13,000 a year to save the two greens at Greenhead Park.
Alternative ways of providing a future for the greens under consideration include making an arrangement with the incumbant bowling clubs to take over the maintenance duties of the greens or leasing the greens to the clubs. Neither of these optiions were considered viable to the bowling club at this time.
Discussions then turned to how alternative funding might become available to contribute to the £13,000 shortfall required at present. A number of suggestions were put forward from all sides including the Council representatives. The bowling club asked for more time to develop plans that could contribute to this target figure. The Kirklees officers were unable to make any such offer until the full consultation exercise with the other bowling club users but promised to inform them of the likely outcome as soon as the consultation exercise had been completed.
With the summer bowling season only two months away there is an obvious deadline to be met by which time the bowling club needs to decide where their future lies. The club has a Plan B in place should the option to continue using the greens they have played on for the last 97 years be taken away from them. They are determined to protect the future of the club wherever they may be based and some big decisons loom.
The headline question was 'Do Greenhead Park greens have a future? It doesn't look good. Does Greenhead Park Bowling Club have a future? Most certainly.
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