A NEW system to deliver sport in West Devon is being proposed by the borough council which is set to succeed Tavistock?s decade-old recreation association.
The move to form a leisure co-ordination group and three area sports councils has been recommended because recreation associations TACRA in Tavistock and OCRA in Okehampton were ?struggling to survive financially? said the council?s officers.
TACRA, based at Tavistock College and in charge of bookings and sports development at the site which includes a gym, sports hall, fitness suite and pitches, has indicated a wish to cease operations. This has been driven by a predicted drop in income when the college reclaims the fitness suite rooms for curricular purposes.
West Devon Borough Council helped set up TACRA in the 1990s and contributes £5,000 of funding to the organisation each year.
Although the council says it has no more money to put into leisure and the best possible use has to be made of existing resources, it is keen to establish an overall system that is financially viable and expands the input of the leisure service.
Sport England was extremely supportive of local sports councils being set up, the council?s economic, leisure and community development committee was told at its recent meeting.
Tavistock, Okehampton and North Tawton/ Chagford would each have their own sports councils made up of sports club representatives. If the existing recreation associations cease, sport development sessions run by an ?activities officer? would have to be bought in.
Whatever money was going into leisure nationally was through the health agenda, so by forming a leisure co-ordination group it could bring in the primary care trusts as well as the county council and the market and coastal towns initiative, which all had the capability of drawing down funds, committee members were told.
Director of community and services for the council David Inman said TACRA and OCRA had worked ?extremely hard? and made maximum use of the sports facilities.
?We are indebted to individuals in the community who have managed to do a lot of work over a long period, but the difficulty is they are reliant on certain income flows which look set to disappear,? he said.
Mr Inman added that the West Devon leisure agenda had been dominated by the provision of facilities in the past but now there was a need to think of how it could act in terms of overall community involvement, public safety, health and social inclusion issues.
Cllr Margaret Garton, who represents the Buckland Monachorum ward, said there was a tremendous amount of sports venues in the parishes outside Tavistock but people were not always aware of these: ?In Yelverton we have three tennis courts, a football pitch and a bowling green.
?We need to have a system where people can find out what is available throughout the borough,? she said.