Gym club facing bar to progress

By tcrowson tina crowson tcrowson@heraldexpress.co.uk

THE plight of hundreds of enthusiastic Torbay gymnasts is being raised with Sport England.

South Devon School of Gymnastics is threatened with being homeless with the redevelopment of Oldway Mansion's Rotunda where it currently operates.

While the club is expecting to rent a new headquarters at Yalberton, Paignton, for the next year, it would ideally like to buy and convert premises at a cost of around £750,000 for its 300 members.

But the club says Sport England is more keen to support brand new, purpose-built facilities which it believes would cost £1.4million and so far it has been unable to secure any funding.

Sport England say the club should be approaching the sport's governing body British Gymnastics for support. But British Gymnastics has told the club its Sports England funding is already committed.

Scrutiny councillors examining the proposed new Torbay Council sports strategy heard that the gymnasts and Paignton Rifle and Pistol Club could both be evicted from their current sites. The pistol club's site in Clennon Valley is expected to make way for the proposed new health centre.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Board agreed to help find the two clubs a new home as quickly as possible amid claims they would otherwise fold.

Now Bay MP Adrian Sanders is being asked to lobby Sport England to take a more flexible approach to sport funding. Mr Sanders has written to Sport England outlining the value to the community of the club and is awaiting a reply.

Torbay Council Lib Dem leader Steve Darling, who chaired the board meeting, told the Bay MP that the gymnastics school is a valued part of Torbay's sports provision which the committee is keen to maintain. It has the British Gymnastics GymMark award and has been teaching gymnasts of all ages for more than 15 years. In that time the school has produced county champions and gymnasts who have represented the region at national level.

The school has identified the former Syntec premises in Aspen Way, Paignton, and subject to planning permission for which it has applied, has a small amount of funding to lease it for the short term.

However for long-term stability the school would like to buy this building. They contacted Sport England about the feasibility of a funding bid to purchase the building at a cost of approximately £750,000.

Sport England indicated it was very unlikely it, or the relevant national governing body, would be willing to fund such a venture. Sport England indicated they prioritised funding high specification, purpose-built new venues.

Nicci Tucker, general manager of the school, told councillors she believed such a policy was both expensive and inflexible.

She said after the meeting: "Even if we had a small amount from Sport England that would be better than nothing. It is so frustrating. We tick all the right boxes about keeping youngsters off the streets and helping them get fit and healthy, yet we seem to be hitting a brick wall all the time."

A Sport England spokesman confirmed its £10million a year Sustainable Facilities Fund was aimed at flagship multi-sport centres. Its sports match scheme is for smaller grants of between £300 and £10,000. However Sport England does channel £230million a year to sports bodies like British Gymnastics.