Great Plumstead Bowls Club near Norwich set for demolition

After years of work, Great and Little Plumstead Parish Council has had plans approved by Broadland District Council to demolish the current bowls club building in Church Road in Great Plumstead.

The on-site Scouts' equipment storage unit will also be torn down as part of the work.

The new site will be significantly bigger (Image: David Bullen via Broadland District Council)

However, from the rubble will rise three new buildings, which will be on a much larger and far more modern scale, as the parish council seeks to expand the facilities at an already very popular community hub.

The first of the buildings will be a new home for the bowls club, with space for maintenance equipment.

The bowls club building is currently 'not fit for purpose' (Image: Google)

A new activity building will also be built on-site, with a space for the Scouts and other local groups to meet.

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New changing facilities are planned for the teams using the sports pitches in the land behind the bowls club and those using the buildings.

A spokeswoman for the Great and Little Plumstead Parish Council said: "The project will protect the future of the Bowls Club, improve the facilities for the Scouts and provide a changing/toilet facilities for the growing number of sports users in the area. 

"The buildings will also be available to other local clubs to use together while allowing the clubs to continue to provide their community events such as the fireworks night, quiz and chips evenings and community open days."

James Harvey, Green Party councillor for Plumstead (Image: South Norfolk and Broadland District Council)

James Harvey, Green district councillor for the Plumstead ward, said: "The parish council has been working very hard on these plans for about two years and overcame some challenges with the designs along the way.

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"The current building is old, leaky and unfit for purpose.

The three buildings will be connected by a series of beams (Image: David Bullen via Broadland District Council)

"However, the building is an important part of the community and very well used, and the modern new site will improve upon what is already happening there."

The 1st Great and Little Plumstead Sea Scouts supported the development, raising several issues that they have faced over the years at the current site, including being oversubscribed, the building being cold and rickety, and "continually struggling with pest infestations (rodents) that damage expensive equipment and potentially put the young people at risk of injury or illness".