A LYME Bay business owner wants to bring a new sport into Lyme Regis after spotting a gap in the market.

Gary Davies, who lives in Seaton and owns Lyme Bay Cabins, approached the town council at a tourism, community and publicity committee meeting with his idea of bringing footgolf to Strawberry Fields, off Charmouth Road.

In a report to the council, he explained that he thought of the business idea when he took one of his sons to play the game for his birthday.

He said: “Whilst the footgolf was fantastic, the facilities were poor, and I could instantly see the potential in creating a better executed footgolf attraction.

“Having known about the Strawberry Fields site for a number of years, I knew there was once a pitch and putt course there. I instantly thought of this as a prime location for a footgolf course.”

The report also outlined his wish use the current timber building already on the site as a reception, changing rooms, party room and refreshments area, and he would be happy to undertake the work needed to make it fit-for-purpose.

He also wanted to provide hot and cold refreshments, have portable toilets and outdoor seating areas and, if the idea was supported by the town council, be in operation by the holiday season this year.

Cllr Brian Larcombe said: “I really like this idea, I like it because it provides something for all ages, all abilities and it is a good family idea.

“From a council perspective, I think it helps identify and underline our interest, if not now but certainly in the future, for using Strawberry Fields as an amenity area.

“The other good thing about this is it doesn’t lock us in to anything of any depth, it is easy to set-up, easy to install and easy to remove if necessary, so I can see nothing wrong with supporting this idea.”

Cllr Sean Larcombe also gave his support for the idea, and Cllr Steven Miller said the proposal “certainly has merit” but it shouldn’t “deflect the council from its intention to do a full project on the use of Strawberry Fields”.

Cllr Brian Larcombe added that the footgolf would be a “good indicator” of how prepared people would be to go up to that location and act as a pilot for their own scheme in the future, which he was “appalled” had not yet been discussed.

He said: “I don’t think we need to be too worried about how this will conflict with our ideas because, quite frankly, I am appalled that we have gone through a whole council term – four years – and we have never properly debated Strawberry Fields.

“I don’t think there is any need to worry about this going in and causing us a problem with a scheme we haven’t even thought about or developed yet.

“You could probably get a year or two out of it before we even have anything to put in, so I think it fits quite nicely.”

Cllr Jeff Scowen urged the council to “start really seriously thinking” about a project for Strawberry Fields before government allocates the land for housing and it is lost.

The committee supported the idea and recommended they move forward in discussions with Mr Davies to provide a footgolf course at Strawberry Fields.