NEWS
Equestrian Borough Plans
for a new £1m plus equestrian centre on
Shooters Hill have been put forward by Greenwich Council.
The proposals form a key part of the council’s post-Olympic legacy programme to encourage more people to become involve in sport and recreation after the 2012 Games.
There will be room for 50 horses which will be ridden in substantial indoor and outdoor arenas, purpose-built stabling, staff accommodation and a proposal for a horse crossing over the main Shooters Hill road to allow hacking through Oxleas Woods.
It is the result of a link-up between the council, the British Equestrian Federation, who will contribute towards the expense and Hadlow College, which will manage the facility.
There is likely to be criticism of the proposals from open space and environmental groups concerned about over-development of the area and amenity damage to the woods.
The proposed site is between Thompson’s garden centre and Woodlands community farm. The plan is for work to begin in November with an offi cial opening shortly before the Games begin next summer. The existing farm buildings will be completely refurbished.
A spokesman for the council said that it is committed to achieving a legacy from the Games, benefi ting residents from all backgrounds and across a number of areas, including employment, health, training and social inclusion.
“The Equestrian Centre would play a key role in increasing opportunities for, and participation in, equestrian activity, particularly as it will be accessible to educational establishments and riding can be off ered as a part of their physical education curriculum”, he said.
“A high quality facility would establish Greenwich as the ‘Equestrian Borough’ of London, building upon the reputation and profi le established by the Olympic and Paralympic at Greenwich Park. Hadlow say the development will mean the creation of between eight and ten
SEnine
full time jobs and between three and fi ve part time staff ; they predict that between 80 and 100 students will use the equestrian facilities each week, with a total usage of between 600 and 1,000 visitors each year, many from schools.
At least three quarters of the users of the centre will come from outside the borough and there is a coach parking facility built into the plans.
A key aim of the Council is to increase opportunities for horse riding among the local community.
A controversial proposal is the construction of a traffi c-lighted crossing for horses to access Oxleas Woods. The council would seek to designate a bridleway through the woods to Oxleas Meadows.
Hadlow say this would be confi ned to a limited number of journeys between March and July each year and would only take place when conditions were dry. The rides would be once a week for 19 weeks involving six horses at a time.
The indoor arena will be 60m x 20m with a viewing area and the outdoor arena slightly smaller. In addition, facilities would include three classroom blocks, a horse walker, a therapy centre, stabling including feed, room/rug room with attached yard offi ce, hay and straw barns, tractor, vehicle garage, laboratory and three classroom block, farrier and treatment area, external wash-down area and muck heap enclosure.
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Local Business - use it or lose it
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