MOVES to upgrade the facilities at Woolmer Hill sports ground continue apace with Waverley Borough Council’s announcement this week that plans are in the pipeline for the pavilion to be extended and revamped.

The pavilion is currently used by a number of sporting clubs for hockey, football, rugby and athletics.

Following the pavilion’s major refurbishment and expansion, it will also be home to Haslemere’s Air Training Corps and Army Cadets, who currently meet at the Wey Hill Youth Campus site owned by Waverley.

The youth campus is identified as a ‘strategic site’ for 31 houses in the borough council’s Local Plan, meaning there may no longer be room when it is developed for all six community organisations now based there. They also include 1st Haslemere Scouts and District Guides and St John Ambulance.

Major refurbishment plans for the pavilion centre around a large first-floor terrace for events that will provide views over the playing pitches. Improvements to disabled access, function space and energy efficiency are all part of the design.

The Army Cadets and Air Training Corps will meet in modern new facilities at ground-floor level.

Borough finance portfolio holder and Haslemere town councillor Ged Hall said: “The building is in desperate need of modernisation and this extension and refurbishment will help maintain a sustainable community space for the sports teams that use the facility but will also become a fantastic new base for the local cadets.”

Neil Francis, chairman of the Woolmer Hill Sports Association and former chairman of Haslemere Hockey Club, added: “We are looking forward to the pavilion getting a much-needed upgrade.

“It will enable all clubs to host sporting events and will, when finished, be one of the best multi-sports facilities in the borough. The pavilion is a focal point for hockey, rugby, athletics and football.”

Plans were recently unveiled for a new state-of-the-art 4G sports pitch at Woolmer Hill sports ground. A 4G pitch combines the durability and drainage of a 3G, but with an added shock-pad that absorbs impact and maximises safety for high-impact sports, such as rugby. The multi-sport surface is playable in almost any weather conditions.

It is hoped grants from the Football Association and Rugby Football Union will provide half the £700,000 cost of the pitch, and town charity the Penny Ha’Penny Trust has also committed to raise a quarter of the required funding.