Bowls club 'could be wiped from history' in health centre plan

THE first nail in the coffin has been struck as a 103-year-old Surrey bowling green could be sold off to make way for a new health centre.

- By EMILY DALTON

Councillors described the offer as a “once in a generation opportunity” for the people of Walton-on Thames.

Cabinet members of Elmbridge Borough Council have agreed to give the NHS the right (not obligation) to buy part of Elm Grove recreational ground.

The local NHS team is hoping to move from its current home at Walton Community Hospital, in Rodney Road, and build a new, state-of-the-art health hub on the land.

However, the potential development would boot out Walton-on-Thames Bowling Club.

Members previously said the bowls club is great for fitness, mental wellbeing and very social.

Michael Atkinson, treasurer of the club, said: “It would be an awful shame to wipe away all of that history.”

Negotiations between the council and the local NHS team have not been decided, and no planning application has been put forward yet, so the health hub is still on the drawing board.

If it all goes through, Walton Community Hospital could also be knocked down to make way for a residential development in Rodney Road, providing much needed housing in Elmbridge, the report states.

Council leader, Councillor Mike Rollings, described the offer as a “once in a generation opportunity to lift up life expectancies”.

He added: “If we don’t do this it would be a dereliction of duty”