Rugby club a step closer to getting a new clubhouse at Byng Road playing fields

After consultations with nearby residents, neighbouring organisations and other users of Byng Road playing fields, an application has now been submitted for planning permission for a new two-storey clubhouse for Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Club.

For years players and supporters feared they had no hope of ever raising sufficient money to replace their ageing and antiquated changing rooms, but an unexpected charitable donation came to the rescue.

If the club had failed to find a way to update its dilapidated facilities – which are well below playing and safety standards required by the Rugby Football Union – Barnet Elizabethans faced an uncertain future.

In addition to building a new clubhouse with self-contained changing rooms, the existing playing fields will be laid out as four pitches with an additional multi-use games area for other sports such as football, netball, and wheelchair-based activities.

Barnet Elizabethans’ existing clubhouse was built in 1957 with an anticipated 25-year life span and its replacement is now possible thanks to significant funding through the Barnet Recreational Trust.

An application for planning approval has been sent to Barnet Council and the club is hoping for the go-ahead from the borough’s strategic planning committee.

Club director Alex Bell said Barnet Elizabethans, an amateur club run by a team of volunteers, had listened to all the comments and suggestions made during the consultation phase.

“This feedback has led to us making some changes, including reducing the size of the clubhouse.”

Over the years, when other clubs from Hertfordshire and North London have visited Byng Road, their players have had to put up with facilities which are well past their sell by date.

For example, for a wash down after a mud-splattered match, players still have the option of jumping into one of two huge communal baths which most clubs replaced years ago because they fail to meet the RFU’s hygiene standards.  

Barnet Elizabethans hope the new clubhouse, with improved areas for both players and spectators, will deliver a high-quality facility which the local community can enjoy.

There will be new landscaping across the site, and the aim will be to minimise impact on the Green Belt through the retention of existing trees and foliage.

Improvements are also planned to the lay-out of the car park with a clearly defined car park for club use and a car park area for public use which will continue to give direct access to the large, council-owned grassed area to the west of the pitches, between the Byng Road allotments and trees that mark the perimeter of the course of the Shire Golf Club.

Through the use of new landscaping, the club hopes to encourage dog walkers and others to go direct to the public area and refrain as much as possible from walking across the pitches.

Mr Bell said the health and welfare of players was of paramount importance and once the playing area has been improved and reconfigured from three pitches to four, he hopes the public will respond.

The pitches have not been improved since 1957 when they were laid on a clay base which can turn into a bog in winter and then bake hard in the summer and become unplayable.

“Once we have our new level, well-drained and maintained pitches they should be respected.

“Currently we are the long suffering victims of vandals and careless dog owners. Before any match we have to check the playing area for dog mess and broken glass – and that is not acceptable.”

Mr Bell insisted the redevelopment would ensure continued community access to a valuable green open space and would protect the Green Belt.

Byng Road playing fields are recognised by the Fields In Trust charity and designated as playing fields in perpetuity.

“We have their full support. They recognise that unless the rugby club can update its facilities, the use of Byng Road playing fields could be in jeopardy in the future.”

Barnet Elizabethans RFC – the result of a merger between Barnet RFC and Old Elizabethans RFC – dates back to 1919 and has been at Byng Road for 65 years.

Currently the club has 780 members, including playing members, supporters and children.

The club’s 1^st XV play matches in the Herts Middlesex League and gained promotion last year; other senior sides play in the Herts Merit Table and in county cup competitions.