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16
Jan
Starbeck Bowling Club given ‘degree of protection’ with community asset status
Starbeck Bowling Club has been given ‘a degree of protection’ from its recent registration as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), the club secretary has said.
The bowling club, which is owned by the council, was incorporated as an ACV on December 5 at a North Yorkshire Council meeting.
It means the community would be given six months to raise funds to buy the site on the open market, should it be put up for sale.
The move comes as a bid has been lodged to designate Starbeck Baths with a similar status amid concerns about its future.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Starbeck Bowling Club secretary, Steve Day, said:
Our decision to apply for registration as a Community Asset was two-fold. Firstly, the development officer for the British Crown Green Bowling Association suggested we seek registration following a survey we completed for them.
Secondly, it would provide the bowling club with a degree of protection in the future, though the registration is only valid for five years.
Mr Day added that members have had concerns for several years regarding the club’s future.
The club’s previous lease expired in January 2024. The secretary said that the club currently has a tenancy “at will” due to a water leak in a wall adjoining the baths and the bowling club.
He also revealed that the club had been offered a three-year lease on the clubhouse and a 12-year lease for the green, for which the club was awaiting documents.
He added:
As is widely known and reported, Starbeck Baths is subject to a financial review this year, and on this basis, we cannot obtain a longer lease on the clubhouse than three years for now.
Our future use of the green will be assured, but we are looking at the option of erecting a clubhouse within the confines of the area of green which will be leased for the next 12 years. If we go down this route, it will require a great deal of funding both locally & nationally.
The bowling club is located on Spa Lane and has been running for 106 years.
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