AS A MEMBER of Bridport Tennis Club, I was disappointed to hear of the rejection by the Environment Agency of the plans to extend our clubhouse in Plottingham Fields (Bridport News, December 20).

The tennis club is situated on a flood plain but this has always been the case and is not a problem to us.

Bridport’s population is planned to grow is size significantly over the next few years, not least because of approved plans for Vearse Farm.

Increases in population require an enhanced infrastructure, such as better provision of leisure facilities. The extended clubhouse would have been a small but worthwhile contribution to this.

I would like to commend the hard work of our volunteer committee over the last year in progressing this project so far, only to be halted at this late stage.

The Environment Agency claims it “works to create better places for people and wildlife”. Well, the scheme didn’t affect wildlife and it would have created a better place for people and yet their intransigence and inability to consider the future needs of Bridport seem to have killed the project permanently.

STEPHEN GODFREY
Manor Fields, Bridport