Plans for new homes and flats on Shrewsbury bowling club site
Homes and flats will be built on the site of a Shrewsbury bowling club, under new plans.
The intention to build on the Albert Road Cricket and Bowling Club in Harlescott was confirmed in plans submitted to Shropshire Council asking for permission to build a new outdoor bowling green on land at Shrewsbury Sports Village.
Once the new bowling green is open, the land at Albert Road would be developed to provide affordable housing in the form of 12 homes and 14 supported living flats.
The site on Albert Road, in between Sundorne Road and Whitchurch Road near Morrisons, is owned by JGE Estates and has been home to cricket and bowls clubs for 70 years.
In a design statement Berrys, the agent working on behalf of the landowner, said a planning application to develop Albert Road was being prepared but would only be submitted once the new bowling green is established.
The statement mentions no plans to build on the cricket pitch, the home of Shropshire Premier Division team Sentinel CC.
Meanwhile the new bowling green would be built on the grass-covered space in between the car park and the Indoor Bowls Centre at the Sports Village.
The design statement said: "The applicant intends to sell the site at Albert Road and therefore there is a need to find a new home for the crown bowling green facility.
"Discussions with Shropshire Council's Leisure Services project officer have resulted in the application site being chosen as a suitable site for the relocated bowling green.
"The existing and proposed new site are only 700 metres apart. The new site is adjacent to the existing indoor bowling green at Shrewsbury Sports Village, which is run by Shropshire Council.
"The relocation of the Albert Road bowling green to Shrewsbury Sports Village will enable the provision of 100 per cent affordable housing on the former site.
"A planning application is being prepared by Bromford Housing Association to redevelop the existing bowling green site for 12 affordable dwellings and 14 supported living flats."
Linked to the Harlescott Sentinel factory, sports clubs have been based at Albert Road since 1949 but have undergone several changes of identity.
Originally called The Sentinel Club, it became Rolls-Royce in 1957, switched to Perkins in 1984 and then became Reman Services in 2007.
However the social club closed at the end of 2015 after the committee ran into financial difficulties.
The cricket club changed its name back to the original Sentinel name for the 2016 season, while the bowling club has recently been known as Albert Road.
The plans for the new bowling green will now go before Shropshire Council's planning department and any decision on the Albert Road development will be subject to separate planning scrutiny.
