Summer Sports - Bowls


the introduction of Private Member’s Bills in addition to the twenty per session normally permissible. It is one of the ways in which a bill may receive its first reading.


Any MP may introduce a bill under the


Ten Minute Rule although, in practice, it is only used by backbenchers. To qualify to introduce a bill under the Rule, the MP in question must be the first through the door to the Public Bill Office on the Tuesday or Wednesday morning fifteen working days (three weeks) prior to the date they wish to introduce their bill. Due to the popularity of the Rule, and the difficulty in launching a Private Member's Bill by other means, MPs have been known to sleep outside the Public Bill Office in order to guarantee a slot! John Woodcock’s bill was, in essence, to


Keith Mills


protect bowling clubs which have been long-term users on their site, and have usually maintained them at no extra cost to the owners, from being hounded out of existence. The bill sought to make it law to give the club first refusal on the land, when it came up for sale. After contacting every County Bowling Association, Keith was horrified to find out just how many greens had been lost in recent times; the demise of pubs and clubs often being the cause, but local authorities were not without blame either. His next step was to raise the profile of the game. He became a member (aka thorn in the side) of the local Sports Council, and had all the local bowls greens put under the council’s seven year


plan for the Protection of Sportsfields and Open Spaces. The first reading of the Bill was on the 13th July 2011, and was passed unanimously. When the media got wind of the campaign, the profile of the game was raised significantly. Granada TV were the first to contact Keith, and all the local radio stations interviewed him about his campaign, finally resulting in the BBC’s One Show taking up the cause and giving the local council some grief into the bargain. As Keith rightly says, these bowling


greens are not just sporting facilities, they are community hubs. He believes they are used more than any other grass surface, often by whole families. The sport, he says, not only keeps kids off the streets, but it keeps pensioners active and families together. Once they are gone we will never get them back, he suggests. The next reading of the Bill is sometime in May this year - “we need all the support possible,” says Keith passionately. During the time of the campaign, John


Woodcock has been awarded the title of Parliamentarian of the Month, and also Sports Parliamentarian of the Year. Having shown his passion for the game, it was easy to understand why the green at King Alfred was looking so good. Keith is a very dedicated greenkeeper and keen to provide the best he can with the resources he has. He knows what these facilities mean to the local community and, therefore, that they should be fit for purpose.


64 PC APRIL/MAY 2012


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