Bold plans for community sports village in Worcester

EXCITING plans for a proposed Community Sports Village at Hindlip near Worcester will be on view to the public and media for the first time at the British Sporting Heroes exhibition at Worcester Cathedral.

This groundbreaking proposal covers an 84 acre site on the northern edge of Worcester – part of a larger scale regional development stretching from Fernhill Heath to the west and Pershore Lane to the east, including West Mercia Constabulary land surrounding Hindlip Hall.

Designed to enable people of all ages and abilities to participate in sport, the Community Sports Village will also be a centre for elite performers as a regional hub for several national governing sports bodies.

Facilities will include:

• An indoor cricket centre and First Class venue for Worcestershire County Cricket Club (WCCC) and its academy – providing an additional home for WCCC to stage matches if their main ground at New Road is flooded.

• The first Sir Bobby Robson Football Academy in the UK, embracing the Worcestershire County FA Football Centre, for use by the whole community, including FA affiliated leagues, schools and further/higher education establishments.

• Championship Golf Course and Golf Academy.

• A Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) regional tennis centre with six indoor and outdoor tennis courts which will be open to all.

• A new regional Hockey Centre for Worcestershire.

• A Learning Centre designed to entice and introduce newcomers to sport, especially young people, with exciting, active pursuits using high tech and virtual sports, delivered through interactive media.

• A 50 metre swimming pool for serious competitors, club swimmers, learn-to-swim sessions and leisure swimming.

• A gymnastics, judo and dance centre including a state of the art gymnasium.

• A plaza with shops, restaurants and cafes.

There will also be specialist education facilities, a sports medical centre and accommodation for students, trainees, athletes, coaches and sports camps.

The Community Sports Village is designed to make Worcester the first city in England to have a co-ordinated landmark sports facility designed to meet national and local government agendas on health, sport and social inclusion.

Accommodation will be at the highest point of the site at the former Court Farm on Hindlip Lane. The existing farmhouse and selected outbuildings will remain and the Listed laundry building will form the administrative centre for the whole Sports Village.

The main buildings will be south of the administrative centre. The tennis centre will face north with the cricket pavilion and centre to the south. These buildings will cascade down a natural slope. Nestled into the site’s natural contours are the green spaces for sporting activities including football, cricket and hockey.

With views towards Worcester and the Malvern Hills, the plaza is an ideal environment for parents to meet, eat and relax while their children enjoy the unique sporting facilities.

ENDS

For further information about the Hindlip Community Sports Village

Contact: Sir Bert Millichip Sports - Peter Millichip 01886 821428 / 07833 356902

Media enquiries: Chris Green at Chris Green Media - 01905 453908 / 07778 647080 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it