Planning officers at Wokingham borough council have approved plans submitted by Reading Cricket and Hockey Club (RCHC) for changes to its facilities.
The Sonning Lane-based club is one of the most successful in the country.
It fields four cricket teams and 21 hockey teams, and includes more than 600 junior members of its hockey section, drawn from nearly 100 local schools.
The hockey club’s first men’s and women’s teams play in the national premier league and the ladies are the current national champions.
It occupies a large triangular site (more than 20 acres) off Sonning Lane to the west, the A4 to the south east and Berkshire County Sports Club on the other, and to the north.
It has its own entrance with a right-hand turn lane, a large car park for more than 130 cars and a pavilion of around 14,000 sq ft..
There is a flat to one end and a large garage housing the groundsman’s equipment. .
Close to the car park is the main artificial hockey pitch. A second pitch is owned and run by RCHC on the grounds of Berks Sports Club.
There were a number of elements in the proposals, comprising a reorganisation and consolidation of the clubs’ facilities, leaving the club with manageable areas for its own use and the utilisation of areas for others.
There was no new build elements in the plans, which included the conversion of men’s changing rooms into a physiotherapists practice, conversion of the flat into two small changing rooms to allow changing when senior teams are playing, conversion of the old bar area to gym, and conversion of the shower block to treatment rooms.
Internal alterations to the ladies toilets to provide separate blocks and including new external accesses.
The conversion of the garage to a new two-bed flat was also approved.
The effect on the club from these changes is considerable, in that it will bring in a steady rental to help to support the club for the future, keep the fabric of the building in good shape, and bring benefits to the members from the services provided at a discounted rate.
Sonning parish council has objected to the plans during the statutory consultation period.
It had said: “The part change in use of this cricket and hockey pavilion to provide a gym and physiotherapy practice, as class E business use within the premises, has raised significant level of concern amongst parishioners.
“Principally, this is with regards to; the impact of both volume and frequency of additional vehicles to and from the RCHC, and the adequate provision of parking on site.”
Officers approved the plans on September 11.
