Indoor bowling plans on hold

Facilities were previously provided by Kirklees Council at the Huddersfield Sports Centre attracting indoor bowlers from Calderdale and parts of Bradford and Wakefield.

A decision was taken to remove indoor bowling facilities from the new sports centre meaning there would be no facility anywhere locally for indoor bowlers to practice their sport.

Rastrick Bowling and Social Club became involved in October 2014 when it became clear that the provision for indoor bowling in the area would be lost.

The club had land adjacent to its bowling green, which would have provided sufficient space for four lanes of bowling and plans were looked at into the feasibility of building an indoor bowling rink.

The actual project started to become a serious proposition for Rastrick in March 2015 when Kirklees informed the club that they were the only possible option for providing a local venue and gave a small grant for a feasibility study.

However, since then the Huddersfield Indoor Bowling Club [HIBC] and Huddersfield YMCA have come together to offer a possible venue at Laund Hill and this is more attractive to HIBC as it allows them to stay in the Huddersfield area.

Rastrick have been working on the project since March, but unfortunately the possible building of a rink to open by September 2016 is thought to be very unlikely.

A meeting was held in July between the Rastrick Feasibility Co-ordinators and HIBC to discuss the present situation and various options.

Rastrick have analysed the situation regarding the possible success of building a rink at the YMCA premises at Laund Hill with its “ready to go” status and have come to the conclusion that for the benefit of all local indoor bowlers it would put its’ project on hold and allow HIBA/YMCA to take the lead and make applications for planning permission and funding, without competing against them.

In January 2016 Rastrick will review the progress of both projects and then decide to keep their project on hold, cancel it completely or reactivate it.