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Howes close

Our vision

Our vision is to create an improved, modern space for outdoor sport in Howes Close that will benefit both our students and the local community for years to come. We want to contribute towards Cambridge's development in a positive way, providing opportunities for the community and our university to interact side-by-side.

Current use

The site at Howes Close is underused by both our university and the local community, due to the lack of facilities it provides. Our pavilion is old and inadequate, without the modern facilities expected by students, parents or community clubs.

The grass pitches are rarely used, as there is only a small window during the academic year in which our teams can fulfil fixtures in daylight.

Our proposal

Our proposal is to make better use of this facility by replacing the existing pavilion with a modern building to support our sports teams. We would like this building have modern changing rooms and some modest additional facilities including a warm-up area and an administration desk.

We are proposing to convert two grass pitches to green, artificial surfaces with floodlights that are in keeping with the local environment and the spirit of the Cambridge green belt. These will be modern surfaces using the latest technology providing year-round training facilities for our students which can also be used by partners from within the community during some evenings and at weekends.

We intend to use sustainable products wherever possible and whilst it will look like grass, one of our pitches will be made of rubber crumb - which is produced from recycled products such as tyres and trainers. Our pavilion will draw on natural sources to heat its water.

Our proposals have carefully positioned the new facilities as far away from existing dwellings and businesses as possible and the spread of lighting will be minimal outside of the pitch boundaries.

Since our exhibitions to obtain feedback from our nearest neighbours the design for the pavilion has progressed, in consultation with the Planning Department of South Cambridgeshire DC. The site layout has been amended slightly to introduce more car parking and cycle storage areas to meet the planning guidance and the community use requirements and the lighting levels of the hockey pitch increased to follow the International Hockey Federation guidelines.

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