PLANS have been put forward to create a new £150,000 Croquet Club clubhouse at Craig-y-Don Community Centre. 

If granted by Conwy County Borough Council planners, the new building will allow members to meet and enjoy refreshments during matches. It will also benefit from toilet and kitchen facilities. 

There is hope it will attract younger members and allow more groups like Scouts and Guides to visit.  

The Craig-y-Don croquet club currently has 63 paying playing members. The average age is 73 plus and two-thirds are women, the oldest being 92.

A Design and Access statement into proposals said: "They are now after 11 years [seeking] a permanent fixture in the Llandudno landscape with the tourist bus normally pausing to let visitors to town to have a quick look at this super Victorian game which features so much in the town's Alice folklore before it leaves Queen's Road to visit Conwy. 

"However, they have modern Governance being a registered CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club) with HMRC but are also a constituent part of the Craig y Don Sports and Community Centre Charity.

"They have been continually expanding their playing and lawn maintenance equipment since formation in 2012, which is at a good level, but are now finding they must have a larger covered area to allow members and spectators cover from extreme weather both sun and storm and somewhere to relax and socialise. They regularly get 30 players and spectators at events and competitions. The current small clubhouse is simply a single width double length garage where a maximum of 12 folk can sit in cramped conditions. We believe that with a push on membership that the club could cater for a membership of 100 in the not-too-distant future. 

"Club members also have to make do with composting toilets when the community centre is shut, and they allow events in the park opposite and the tennis club to use the same composting toilets whenever the need arises."

The plan for the new clubhouse includes an externally opening disabled toilet that can be opened by a radar key. 

The club installed a defibrillator in 2022 which positioned on the outside of the current small clubhouse. The defibrillator will remain in place and is available 24/7. 

Despite members being in the elderly category, the club has joined a Croquet Association League for the first time.

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The document said: "This is bringing more competitive clubs to visit them and the current club house is letting them down. Hence, we are seeking approvals (to be followed by grant applications) to build a more suitable sized clubhouse on approximately one third of our recently acquired garden area.

"The project will cost circa £150,000 and will be built to the highest current 'sustainability' housing requirements demanded by planning authorities and grant donors including air sourced heat pump, solar panels with battery storage and grey water recycling.

"It will help us attract younger players which we desperately need and allow more groups like Scouts and Guides to visit when we have adequate indoor space and toilet availability."