Hart District Council is pleased to announce that it will fund £60,000 towards the Basingstoke and Deane Canoe Club Clubhouse at Colt Hill on the Odiham section of the Basingstoke Canal.
Formal planning approval for a new club-house was obtained in 2008. Since then the Club has been working hard to try and secure funding and sports development from organisations such as Sport England and Canoe England.
Councillor Sara Kinnell, Portfolio holder of Leisure and Recreation, comments: “We are pleased to be supporting this exciting new project. As well as providing a centre for able bodied canoeists the club-house will contain specialist facilities for the disabled thus providing access to a sport not often available to disabled participants.”
The decision to part fund the project was made at the cabinet meeting held on 9 May and money will be released from the S106 funding. For more information please read the cabinet minutes available from www.hart.gov.uk.
Basingstoke and Deane Canoe Club is grateful for a pledge of £60,000 from Hart District Council towards construction of a canoe clubhouse adjacent to the Basingstoke Canal in Odiham.
The Club has been working towards building a clubhouse since purchasing a plot of land adjacent to the wharf at Odiham since 1995. The Club now has planning permission for a clubhouse comprising a boat store, male, female and disabled toilets, changing rooms, a club room/ classroom and a small kitchen.
Alan Macdonald, the Club chairman, said “This is a great boost to our fund raising and means we are on track to start the first phase of construction early in 2014. We are grateful for the support from Hart DC and look forward to promoting canoeing in both Hart and Basingstoke.”
Janella Mansell, the Club’s paddlesport development officer, said “Being able to store canoes and kayaks next to the canal will really help us to support casual paddling and to be able offer more coaching. Previous development projects have focused on paddling for young people and paddling for the disabled: the clubhouse will help the Club build on those projects.”
