Plans to upgrade Congresbury Recreation Club to provide better sports and social facilities have been launched.

The move comes as ambitious plans for a new village hall have been shelved. The new hall would have replaced the existing Rec Club, in Stonewell Drive.

In November, plans to build a new village hall in Congresbury were shut down.

MORE: Village hall project to close as coronavirus affects plan.

The project struggled since 2018 and the trustees of the King George V Playing Field – which manage the playing fields and comprises Congresbury Parish Council, the village’s cricket, football and tennis clubs, the Royal British Legion and St Andrew’s Primary School – felt it was time for a change of approach.

The Rec Club plan, called Project Construct, is being backed by the trustees of the King George V Playing Field.

Its chairman Mike Greaves said: “The trustees have a primary duty to support and enable sport and recreation on the fields.

"The trustees are aware that the existing recreation and changing facilities have deteriorated and are in need of upgrade or replacement."

A project sub-committee of the Rec Club has already carried out a feasibility study and is looking to produce detailed plans and costs and develop a funding strategy.

Project Construct is being chaired by cricket club president Les Owen and includes representatives of the tennis, cricket and football clubs as well as the Rec Club.

Its remit is to consult widely with the sports and recreation clubs as well as the wider community to make sure that, wherever possible, the project meets their needs for the provision of sports and social facilities in Congresbury.

The current Rec Club was built in the 1960s and is now well past its best with outdated changing rooms that do not have separate female facilities.

This has, for example, prevented the cricket club hosting some county junior matches.

Initial plans envisage a new changing block shared by cricket and tennis clubs with the old changing rooms incorporated into the rebuilt Rec Club to give a much larger footprint allowing for a multi-use communal area.