Compton Parish Council objects to West Berkshire Council's £3m development of Downland Sports Centre

Compton residents have some objections to the proposed sports hall development at Downland Sports Centre.

West Berkshire Council’s proposal for the hall, which would cost more than £3m over the next five years, would see the entire building significantly renovated.

The building, primarily used by The Downs School, would be larger, incorporating a bigger gym area, state-of-the-art changing rooms and a new studio space.

Compton Parish Council formally objected to the proposal for a number of reasons, but what had it most concerned were the privacy and child protection issues created by the large windows on the first floor.

The objection document reads: “It should be noted that a public footpath runs around the boundary of the school grounds, allowing views into the facility.

“In the provided plans, windows are shown as transparent rather than obscured.”

Although Downland Sports Centre is now used by both the school and Compton residents, many are afraid that the proposal, which is listed as “extension and refurbishment of existing school sports hall” in official planning documents, might prevent the village community from being able to use the new school facilities.

The document also reads: “Concerns were raised regarding the size of The Downs School logo on the front of the building.

“This facility has always been a community facility that is used by the school, whilst this logo suggests the building purely belongs to the school.”

Other reasons for the parish council’s objection include the lack of a construction method statement being part of the application, no electric vehicle charging points being included in the development, and the temporary car park being proposed for use during the build is currently being used by The Downs School students.

Environmental concerns have also been raised from within West Berkshire Council.

The design and access statement for the proposal acknowledges the Downland site’s past flooding problems, but it refrains from going into detail about how that might be dealt with.

In a letter to the planning officer, Paul Bacchus, a project engineer within the council's environment department, said: “The applicant needs to provide details of sustainable drainage measures to manage surface water within the site.”

The proposal, created by Oxford Architects, is set to go before the council’s western area planning committee in the coming months.