Owzthat! Ashfield club hope to bowl over cricket lovers with modern, new nets
A long-established cricket club in Ashfield are hoping to bowl over enthusiasts of the sport with new, “modern and high-quality” practice nets.
Underwood Miners Welfare CC, who celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2019, have submitted a planning application to Ashfield District Council for “a replacement cricket practice facility”.
The club’s current nets are said to be “no longer fit for purpose, in a dilapidated state and beyond reasonable repair for safe and continued future use”.
They say they need new ones at their Church Lane ground “to raise standards and training offers available to members”.
The application has been made by the club’s agent for the scheme, the Nottingham-based Planning and Design Group (UK) Ltd (P&DG). It is for “a non-turf cricket practice facility that is specified to ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) standards”.
A statement by P&DG says: “The facility would be sited in the exact same location as the existing one and would consist of a two-lane, enclosed system measuring 33 metres in length and 7.3 metres in width.
"The nets would be four metres in height and constructed using porous matting on a granular aggregate base, surrounded by mesh netting, supported by galvanised steel poles. There would be an access gate at the end of the nets.”
P&DG says the proposal “would bring significant benefits to the cricket club”, replacing “dilapidated nets with modern and high-quality ECB-standard ones”.
There would be “no loss of formal open space” and the nets would be totally safe, with P&DG adding: “The likelihood of a cricket ball exiting the controlled area would be virtually impossible, reducing the danger to the public and neighbours”.
The new nets would be supplied by the renowned ECB-accredited cricket-pitch experts, Total-Play Ltd, based in Northampton.
Total-Play has also furnished the council with a statement to support the application, which says: “Underwood MW CC are a friendly and inclusive community cricket club.
"They are an aspiring club and require a new, off-field practice facility for the further development of junior and senior cricket sections.
"An increase in players at senior and junior levels, combined with recent success, has spurred intentions to continue raising standards.
"The proposal would tie in with existing facilities and meet the demands of the club, providing a safe area in which to hold warm-ups, coaching, drills, skills and net practice.”
The club have been at the heart of the village of Underwood since 1894. If they secure planning permission and also funding for the nets, the project could be completed during the 2026 season.
The council’s planning officers are considering the plan and hope to make a decision or recommendation by their deadline date of Monday, May 25.
THE details of many planning applications can be found in public notices advertised by local and regional newspapers. To catch up on all the latest public notices, go to https://publicnoticeportal.uk/