Clubhouse for thriving Devon football club approved

It has 250 members but limited facilities

A thriving community football club in East-the-Water with 250 members but no female toilets has been granted permission for a clubhouse.

Torridge District Council’s planning committee unanimously supported plans by Shamwickshire Rovers Football Club for a single storey 21m by 10m building at Pollyfield Playing Field which will have kitchen and toilet facilities including accessible loos, a large social area, storage facilities and an outdoor seating area.

The club has a 65 year history in the town but disbanded during covid only to rise again five years ago.

It has five disability sides, seven youth teams and 14 teams in total but the infrastructure at its home ground at Pollyfield has not grown with the club, chairman Sam Stephens told the planning committee on Thursday.

He said the club ran the only disability sides in north Devon and were the biggest in the county.

The application also included a new site for the community food pantry which is used by up to 60 families a week.

Mr Stephens said the club had worked with Devon Air Ambulance to provide a night landing location at Pollyfield and organised free festivals and family holiday clubs.

Yet the club was disadvantaged by currently having no outdoor or indoor space for parents, carers or volunteers relating to the football club activities.

The land next to the football pitch, currently classified as ‘public open space’ and owned by Torridge District Council, was underutilised, said planning agents Fernley Lott Architects, and would deliver social benefits for the community.

Cllr Jane Whittaker (Con, Northam) acknowledged that there were three objections from nearby residents who raised concerns over site overdevelopment and loss of green space but she said it “warmed her heart” that there was support from everyone else.

The building will have a ridge height of five metres and be constructed of horizontal mid-grey clad elevation,  natural slate roof tiles and mid-grey uPVC windows and doors. 

The applicants will be encouraged to add solar panels and water capture devices to the building to increase its sustainability.