The gentle sound of metal ball clinking metal ball will soon be part of the sights and sounds of Stonehouse Creek playing fields with work well underway to create two new pétanque terrains.
Ten pistes are being created on land near the new Shekinah building as a new venue for a group of players to continue to meet, toss their metal boules around the field of play, and socialise.
It is expected the work will take 14 weeks and is being carried out by contractors Ryearch Ltd.
The bowling game hails from France but is now played all over the world. Plymouth Pétanque spokesman Robert Preston said:
“It’s a great game as it can be for any age, requires little equipment, can be played by people of all abilities and is outside in the fresh air.
“We are quite a chatty bunch, so it is a social game and I am hoping that being a more open location might encourage more people to get involved.”
Once finished the area will be fenced off, a storage container installed and car parking made available nearby for the players.
The club welcomes members of all ages and no-one is ever too old to play as two of their more regular players are in their 90s.
The new terrain is to replace one at Brickfields, which is currently undergoing an extensive redevelopment that will see new facilities for Argyle’s youth academy.
It will also see improvements to playing pitches including three grass football pitches and replacing an existing grass rugby training pitch with a new 3G pitch, a new floodlit 3G football pitch, a new, covered 3G football pitch, PlayZone exclusively for public use, not to mention a new community hub to be run by Argyle Community Trust with the emphasis on health and wellbeing.
The site will also be a permanent home of the Argyle Women’s first team.
As part of the wide-ranging project, the council and its partners worked with representatives from the pétanque group to identify a new site for the sport in the west of the city.
Councillor Sue Dann, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Sport and Leisure said:
“We have worked hard to find a new site for this group to continue to enjoy pétanque.
“They have more than 80 players, so we were keen to find them a new home so that they could continue to enjoy the sport and each other’s company. That was very important to us. We wanted to make sure the super redevelopment at Brickfields still meant sport for all – whatever their age and ability and whatever their sport.”
A planning application was submitted in November and granted in January and the land will be leased by Devonport Community Leisure Ltd.
The Brickfields development is thanks to a partnership between Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Argyle FC, Plymouth Argyle Community Trust, Plymouth Albion and Devonport Community Leisure Limited. For more information about the plans visit www.pafc.co.uk/brickfields-development.
