I WRITE to assure Jane Grant of Whitehall, Sale, that Brooklands Sports Club fully intends to stay as a community sports facility.

Only over my dead body will it ever become purely a 'commercial business', as she suggests.

In fact the main reason for inviting 'trainStation' to join us is to protect the playing of cricket, hockey, tennis, squash, bowls and lacrosse at Brooklands - so maintaining our traditional excellence in all these sports as well as providing opportunities for local youngsters to become involved in sport.

The situation is that our clubhouse is in serious need of repair and we also need to increase revenue to fund our teams and coaching.

These major problems will be solved by 'tranStation' who will build us a new clubhouse and pay a rent which will ensure both the development of our games and our future.

It's obviously true there would be more traffic coming to the club - but not to the extent of Ms Grant's figures.

The target for membership is 2,500, but like membership of a golf club not all members come at the same time. In fact, it's reckoned that even at peak times there is rarely more than a five per cent attendance of a fitness club membership at any one time.

The peak time, incidentally, is between 5.30pm and 7.30pm so there would hardly be the traffic congestion or pollution for the local nursery Ms Grant scarily outlines.

We propose, in fact, to create an 100 or so parking spaces, which together with widening our entrance drive so that it is two-way instead of its present one-way, will improve traffic flow on Whitehall Road rather than hinder it.

David Meek, Brooklands Sports Club, Sale.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.