Jamie Ross
Members of a north-east bowls club say they are still £20,000 short of realising their ambitions of opening a new base in time for next summer.
The West End Bowling Club in Fraserburgh’s Union Grove has now asked Aberdeenshire Council for their agreement to have start works on the £70,000 project extended by two years.
Area councillors had previously awarded the project their backing in August 2011.
Club secretary Robert Lindsay said: “We’ve got nearly £56,000 of our own saved up, we’re just short of the last £20,000. It’s just out of reach.” He added that the any extra money raised would cover inevitable incidentals arising during the works.
Originally built in 1925 – at a cost of £1,450 – the existing wooden building has started to fall into disrepair, and rot is now beginning to set in at the rear.
Mr Lindsay said: “We’ve been trying for the last eight years to get it done, but new regulations come in every other week that bump up the price.
“Hopefully, it’ll be knocked down in the next month and we’ll get a new one up for the new season.”
Aberdeenshire Council currently cares for the green and surrounds of the existing club house, the building itself the only financial footprint of the club.
Local councillor Brian Topping said: “I take my hat off to Robert and the committee, they’ve been trying so hard to raise money over the last couple of years.
“I’ve certainly offered to help with any fundraising and look at any grants that would be available to them. The main thing is the funding.
“The fact is, it’s not a private club – it’s a community club. It’s actually there for the general public. The money they’ve raised up to now is really quite tremendous.
“There is still quite a shortfall, I would really urge the wider community, especially in that area, to get behind the effort.”