Scheme would see the complete reshaping of leisure facilities at the park

A planning application has been submitted for a major redevelopment of the sports and leisure facilities in Gunnersbury Park.

The proposal is to build a two-storey Sports Hub building with basement on the ‘redundant’ bowling green (between the car park and the children’s playground). This will contain a 5 court sports hall, multi-use studios and associated changing facilities, cafe community room, archive store and office accommodation.

The various greenhouses, glasshouses and lean-to-structures within the garden nursery depot site will be demolished together with the existing changing and cricket pavilions adjacent to the model farm complex. The listed 'kitchen garden' walls originally associated with the small and large mansions will be retained.

All the outdoor sport at the site would be relocated at the top end of the field to be closer to the changing facilities which will be in the new building. There are planned to be 8 full size natural grass football and rugby pitches, with some junior-sized pitches, and 3 adult cricket pitches, 2 artificial grass pitches and a multi-use games area. The pitch and putt course will now be moved to the bottom of the field, near to the Potomac Lake. The Greenscene depot may become additional car parking.

At the time of writing there was no supporting documentation with the planning application so any images used here will have been taken from the documentation issued at the time of the consultation for the project.

Sports Hub building will be on the site of the bowling green

The building will be modern in style with a high-roofed multi-use sports hall on the path side and on the field side a café, eight changing rooms, showers and rooms for officials, with locker space in the corridors. On the floor above will be two multi-use studio spaces, offices and other rooms.

Aerial view of the planned sports hub at Gunnersbury Park

Tennis courts will be laid out with floodlighting which will also illuminate the artificial grass pitches. There will be an out-door gym, distance markers and a trim trail to help people use the park for exercise.

Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub

The aim at this stage is that the project will be completed by 2017.

January 6, 2016