1 week Ago By [email protected] (Joe Crossley)
Construction has started on a long-awaited £2.5 million new home for a town’s rugby club. Sittingbourne RUFC aim to move to the state-of-the-art facilities off Wises Lane, Borden, next year.
The club, which turns 50 in 2026, currently play their home matches at The Grove, off Key Street, and share a clubhouse with cricketers from Gore Court CC. But by next autumn, the rugby players will have their own two-storey clubhouse overlooking two pitches. They have been leased to the club, which has 350 members aged from five upwards, for 125 years.
It comes after a deal was struck with developer Quinn Estates, which along with the rugby facilities also secured planning permission for up to 595 homes, a primary school and retail space, despite widespread opposition. Club president Roger Down said: “It has been eight-and-a-half years in the making so it's a truly defining moment for the club and for the local community. “It’s been a long wait to get to this point and we’re grateful to Quinn Estates for the support it has shown in supporting our dream of securing a new permanent home.
“The lease provides us with long-term security and the new facilities will be excellent for all our teams. “In 2026 we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary so it will be amazing if the facilities opening coincide with that. “This is the start of an exciting new chapter for us and for the local community too.
They will have the use of both clubhouse and pitches, including being able to come and support our home games. “We can’t wait to welcome them along.” The new clubhouse will feature six changing rooms and a physiotherapy area.
There will also be a kitchen and bar that opens out onto a balcony looking out to the two grass pitches, which will meet both Sports England and Rugby Football Union standards and have the latest drainage technology to allow for play all year round. A ground-breaking event was held earlier this month to mark the start of work which will start off with preparation works for the pitches before work starts on the clubhouse as well. The plans, first unveiled in 2016, were embroiled in the controversy surrounding the wider Wises Lane development known as Applegate Park.
From the outset, the proposals put the club at loggerheads with people living in the area, who formed Borden Residents Against Development, or BRAD for short, to fight the plans. They often found themselves sitting side-by-side in the public gallery at Swale House as members of the council’s planning committee debated the scheme. In August, 2021, a planning application was agreed, in principle, for the development after a decision by then Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick .
He agreed with an independent planning inspector to allow the appeal by Quinn Estates after Swale council’s rejection of the proposals. Securing permission for the detailed plans for the rugby part of the scheme was far from plain sailing. It was eventually approved in November last year after a decision was delayed by the council’s planning committee.
Councillors and members of the public raised concerns about the number of car parking spaces and toilets, lighting and its impact on the nearby Borden Nature Reserve and access. Cllr Simon Clark (Lab) likened the design of the community hub to “ something a child could have drawn ” and said it was not in keeping with the village. In response to concerns, the club clarified the times for matches and said junior training would be during daylight hours so no floodlighting would be needed.
The number of parking spaces were also increased from 11 to 76. A revised design of the clubhouse was accepted by Borden Parish Council, which originally opposed the plans. Quinn Estates, which provided the funding alongside The William Barrow's Charity, A.
Hinge & Sons and Barratts PLC, is in charge of construction. Ben Geering, the developer’s planning director, said: “We’re delighted to be starting work on a new permanent home for Sittingbourne Rugby Club. “It is part of our commitment to a development that not only delivers high-quality homes but goes the extra mile in providing wider benefits for the community.
“Exciting projects like this involve a huge number of people and on behalf of the club and Quinn Estates, we are especially thankful to Stuart Mair from The William Barrow’s Charity, Barratts PLC and Robert Hinge and James Mair from A.Hinge & Sons for funding contributions.”.
