Darren Sadler and wife Jenna, who own the Absolute Fitness gym in the town, is partnering with Boroughbridge Town Council and Boroughbridge Sports Village (a registered charity) to create the 10 acre facility.
The development is proposed at Chapel Hill near Aldborough Gate and would include a games field, an exercise track, a 100 metre sprint track, multi-use games areas for team sports, nature reserve, gym, health food café and a community meeting room.
Darren, 43, who was born-and-raised in Boroughbridge, says he is keen to work with the town council to get the scheme developed.
READ MORE:
He explained: “My wife and I decided that the time has come to now expand the gym as our membership continues to increase and we need more space. We also want to increase our offering of classes within a new state of the art gym and provide additional outdoor space for exercising too.
“Bringing this all into one sporting village so that the local community can have a variety of options and access free to use facilities along with those on offer from our gym membership feels like the right thing to do and the most sensible investment for us to make as a commercial gym.”
The Sadlers plan to buy three acres of the site, funded by their gym and Giants Live company to build a new gym, health food café and community meeting room.
The proposals have gone out for consultation to see what residents would like before a formal planning application is submitted but already the couple report ‘overwhelming support’ from the more than 1,000 responses received to date.
Darren said: “There is clearly an appetite for enhanced local facilities and we will include as many of these ideas shared by the local community as possible within our proposals. I hope the local community will understand that it will not be possible to include all of the suggestions made which may be due to the required infrastructure and/or cost implications.”
Boroughbridge Mayor Sean Hynes said: “The creation of Boroughbridge Sport Village is an extremely exciting project for the community of Boroughbridge and the surrounding area.
“This much needed development is long overdue, providing a range of outdoor sports facilities including the construction of a new Absolute Fitness gym by our project partner Darren Sadler.
“There is still a long way to go and hurdles to jump, but we as a group are determined to achieve our goal. This is a good news day for Boroughbridge!”
Speaking on behalf of the Sports Village Charity, Charlie Merson added: ““It is vitally important for us to provide free to use safe and accessible quality outdoor recreational space for the Town’s residents.
“Boroughbridge has a fast growing population that requires amenities that foster a sense of both well-being and community and this exciting partnership will help to make Boroughbridge an even greater place to live.”
