{"id":51129,"date":"2024-04-29T13:58:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T13:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/?p=51129"},"modified":"2024-04-29T14:00:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T14:00:08","slug":"hillsborough-park-to-undergo-sporting-makeover-as-council-plans-new-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/04\/29\/hillsborough-park-to-undergo-sporting-makeover-as-council-plans-new-facilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Hillsborough Park to undergo sporting makeover as council plans new facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Plans have been approved to transform the sports facilities at Hillsborough Park, including a new community caf\u00e9, two all-new padel<\/span><\/strong> courts and space for indoor fitness classes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The site currently has four tennis courts, a pump bike track, and a multi-use sports area (MUGA), all of which have fallen into disrepair, becoming overgrown with moss and lacking any protection in winter months.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Darren Atkinson, 42, from Hillsborough, said: “This place is a wasteland for most of the year, so it needs bringing back to life urgently.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“I used to come here to play tennis with my nephew, but it’s just not possible anymore with the state of the courts. They’re dangerous.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, the decision to rebrand the area came after months of debate by the council, originally rejected by 18 of 30 representatives and facing criticism from several campaign groups.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Leah Byatt, from the community group led by members of the Socialist Party, ‘Save Our Parks’, said: “Land in Hillsborough Park is supposed to be protected from sale or disposal as it is a charitable trust park, and it seriously needs addressing and investigating.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At a Planning and Highways Committee meeting on 2 April, the Council\u2019s plans were heavily criticised as they would result in the loss of free-to-use sports facilities.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A planning document stated: \u201cIt is understood that the MUGA will remain as a free-to-use facility, but that there will be a charge for the other facilities proposed.”<\/p>\n

Padel is a fast-growing sport in England, played on a small, tennis-themed court in a glass-walled arena. The simplicity of the game, the social aspect of playing in doubles, and it being relatively easy to pick up have contributed to its widespread appeal.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The complete proposal includes a new caf\u00e9\/community space building, replacement tennis courts, a replacement MUGA, new mini-golf, padel tennis court facilities and an outdoor activity space, all sitting within the south-eastern corner of the park.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The scheme is proposed by Courtside Hub CIC in conjunction with the Council\u2019s Parks and Countryside Department. Courtside Hub is a not-for-profit community interest company promoting physical activity through the transformation of local parks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hillsborough Park is located approximately three miles north-west of Sheffield City Centre, off the A61 Penistone Road and contains six Grade II listed buildings.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plans have been approved to transform the sports facilities at Hillsborough Park, including a new community caf\u00e9, two all-new padel courts and space for indoor fitness classes. The site currently has four tennis courts, a pump bike track, and a multi-use sports area (MUGA), all of which have fallen into disrepair, becoming overgrown with moss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":51133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152,6,1],"tags":[18,12,55,208],"class_list":["post-51129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-council-2","category-sport","category-uncategorized","tag-hillsborough","tag-sheffield","tag-sheffield-city-council","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51129"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51624,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51129\/revisions\/51624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shef-live.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}