Mill Lane Playing Fields and Pavilion Upgrade Project
Headley Parish Council has been working on the major project to improve the Margery Wheatley Pavilion and the Mill Lane Playing Fields for some considerable time. So far we have secured funding totalling £823,000 and have already provided three new Youth football pitches which were completed for the 2024/5 season. In addition, the Bowls Club and Tennis Club facilities have been upgraded with help from the clubs.
Much of that funding has come from the levy paid by developers in this and nearby parishes known as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 agreements made between developers and local authorities.
We are keen to see wider use of the building and facilities in addition to active sports – in fact this was a condition of the grant! Examples include coffee mornings, book club, mothers and toddlers group, club meetings, exercise, u3a etc. If you have ideas about how the Pavilion could be used or you are part of an organisation that could make use of the new facilities, please let us know on this link:
On 13th January 2025, Headley Parish Council appointed Flint Construction Ltd. to undertake the Pavilion Refurbishment Project at a value of £1,018,920.00 – this will be to upgrade the Pavilion building itself. The building has had a lot of use since the original construction. It was showing signs of wear and tear, and facilities needed to be expanded to cater for current and future use. The upgrade is to include:
- New and more welcoming entrance area, with an extended balcony above
- Extending the Main Hall to enable enhanced sporting activities and community usage
- Additional storage capacity for sports club users
- Upgrade and extend changing rooms
- Total upgrade of all the public toilet areas
- Improved kitchen facilities and upgrade to the bar facilities to better serve sports club and community usage
- Improvement of water mains and drainage infrastructure to better serve sports pitches and changing areas
The construction phase of the project will run from mid-April 2025 to early 2026. During this time the Pavilion will be closed. The playing fields remain open and will continue to be used by the resident sports clubs, and there will be continued public access for recreation and dog walking. However, there will be reduced parking available due to the construction compound and we ask that people keep away from the building works for their own safety.
We will continue to apply for grants to cover additional facilities we would like to include in the upgrade. As we make progress with the design and build of these new facilities we will be adding further news items to this website.