Eaton park cutbacks
Around £17,000 will be saved in grounds maintenance at Eaton Park, by removing a number of sports facilities. But some have been saved from the axe, for now.
Last November, the public were consulted on what should happen to underused sports facilities in parks across Norwich. It formed part of a wider consultation on a range of savings designed to close a budget gap at Norwich City Council of around £8m.
In Eaton Park, this meant possibly loosing 4 tennis grass courts, a bowling green, a football pitch and the croquet green. Following detailed consultation with the sports clubs affected, some of the facilities have been saved. The football pitch has been kept, while the bowls club now share a green. The four grass tennis courts will be removed, but will be replaced by two hard courts, which can be used all year round. The croquet club will continue to receive a subsidy for the next two years and work is being done to try to increase their membership.
Eaton Park has the only croquet club in Norwich, and while they’ll continue to receive a subsidy, they say their rent has tripled. Neil Chalmers from the club said: “We need a very inventive way of solving the problem. While we’ve got enough money to continue this year, we need to find some way of raising the money in years to come.”
The club are offering sessions where people can “Come and Try Croquet” on Sat 15th/ Sat 22nd May from 10am.
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