Proposed Boroughbridge Sports Village development near Aldborough Gate

The local community are being encouraged to have their say on a new proposed Boroughbridge Sports Village development near Aldborough Gate.

A Boroughbridge Sports Village is being proposed at Aldborough Gate (the land between Aldborough Cemetery and Boroughbridge Allotments on Chapel Hill), to enhance the quality of life for residents of Boroughbridge and neighbouring communities.

It is intended that this proposed development will increase the number of people participating in physical activity, contributing to improved health and well-being of local residents and act as a central hub for the community to come together.

The proposed sports village will be fully inclusive for all ages and abilities and would comprise of community amenities such as a games field, an exercise track, a 100 metre sprint track, multi-use games areas for team sports, a nature reserve and a fully equipped, state of the art gym which would include all of the latest classes, a health food café and a community meeting room.

This partnership proposal has been brought together by Boroughbridge Town Council, Boroughbridge Sports Village (a registered charity) and Absolute Fitness gym & Giants Live Ltd business owners, Darren and Jenna Sadler.

The first phase of public consultation launched on Friday 23rd February where the local community have been given the opportunity to share their views on the proposed sports village, to what extent this may benefit them, and the types of facilities they would like to see introduced.

Sean Hynes, Mayor of Boroughbridge Town Council said:

The creation of Boroughbridge Sport Village is an extremely exciting project for the community of Boroughbridge and the surrounding area.

This much needed development is long overdue, providing a range of outdoor sports facilities including the construction of a new Absolute Fitness gym by our project partner Darren Sadler.

There is still a long way to go and hurdles to jump, but we as a group are determined to achieve our goal.

This is a good news day for Boroughbridge.

Darren Sadler, a local family man and business owner of Absolute Fitness gym (Brickyard Road, Boroughbridge), Giants Live Ltd and World’s Strongest Man competitor said:

It has been a fabulous opportunity to work with Boroughbridge Town Council on this new project and I’m really excited about collaborating on our shared ambition of increasing the sporting facilities available for people of all ages and abilities within the Town.

This area of land has always been earmarked for sporting facilities and I understand it has taken a few attempts over 20 years to get such a project off the ground and I want to help make this happen.

My wife and I decided that the time has come to now expand the gym as our membership continues to increase and we need more space. We also want to increase our offering of classes within a new state of the art gym and provide additional outdoor space for exercising too. Bringing this all into one sporting village so that the local community can have a variety of options and access free to use facilities along with those on offer from our gym membership feels like the right thing to do and the most sensible investment for us to make as a commercial gym.

It is proposed that as part of this project, we would purchase three acres of the land available on site. This investment will come from Absolute Fitness and Giants Live Ltd to develop a modern gym which will include a range of up and coming classes and a centre of excellence for strength training along with enhancing health and well-being facilities, a health food café and a community meeting room.

The support we have received to date for this project is overwhelming and I would like to thank all those who have already taken the time to share their views and complete the consultation survey. So far, approximately 1,000 responses have been received and we’ve had some really great ideas shared too. There is clearly an appetite for enhanced local facilities and we will include as many of these ideas shared by the local community as possible within our proposals. I hope the local community will understand that it will not be possible to include all of the suggestions made which may be due to the required infrastructure and/or cost implications.

This is a really exciting time and I hope we can achieve our shared vision and get a Boroughbridge Sports Village developed which meets the needs of the local community.

Speaking on behalf of the Sports Village Charity, Charlie Merson said:

It is vitally important for us to provide free to use safe and accessible quality outdoor recreational space for the Town’s residents.

Boroughbridge has a fast growing population that requires amenities that foster a sense of both well-being and community and this exciting partnership will help to make Boroughbridge an even greater place to live.

For more information, and to complete the short survey, which will inform the proposed plans moving forwards, this can be accessed by following the link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2LRQ25R

Posters have been placed around Boroughbridge Town Centre promoting the public survey and paper copies are available in the local Library and at Absolute Fitness gym reception for those who are not able to access the online form.

Key members of the project team are also hosting an open consultation event at Boroughbridge Library on Saturday 9th March between 10:00am and 1:00pm where all community members are invited to come and share their views.

Leaflets will also be sent out to local residents and business owners throughout March advertising the survey which hopes to encourage as many responses as possible.