Rugby Club parking issues over the last few weekends

We had a constructive meeting on Friday 28th January between the ruby club, village hall committee and parish council to discuss the parking issue.

Firstly, Phil Sprague (the new Chair of the club) offered his apologies on behalf of the rugby club for the issues caused by cars parking in the grounds of the village hall, along the grass verges in the village and also down The Avenue, which led to difficulties and inconvenience for many residents over the last few weeks.

There were a number of last minute cancelations and changes to fixtures that had caused the rugby club some unforeseen problems. The rugby club does not charge for any parking (other than at the October minis festivals) and so those parking in the streets were doing so entirely because of the rugby clubs car parking capacity, not to avoid paying.

The rugby club is taking a number of steps to prevent a recurrence both in the short and medium term:

1. The fixtures and playing schedule is being optimised to ensure that parking space is available.  Post Covid, the club has seen an increase in cars as people are less willing to share.
2. Communication with visiting teams prior to the day is stressing that parking in the hall carpark or on the avenue/street is not an option.
3. Parking stewards will be on hand to maximise the number of cars in the rugby club car park.
4. Any late cancelations of away fixtures that would put an additional load on parking would be diverted to the Norman Hill grounds.
5. The rugby club will communicate in advance with the residents through the PC website and eNews should there be weekends with potential overload.
6. The rugby club is in negotiation with the village hall for use of village hall facilities.
7. Creation of a temporary overspill carpark, should it be needed.  The track to the field behind the village hall will commence on the 7th February and should therefore make this temporary car park available from late February.

In the medium term:

1. Planning parking for fixtures and in particular the October minis festival.
2. Publishing out the fixture to the village residents (which can also be found at www.dursleyrfc.co.uk) .
3. Further meeting between rugby club, village hall committee and parish council is planned before the October festivals.

If anyone has anything they wish to raise or discuss, feel free to give me a shout

Regards

Simon

Suspicious Activity

We had a report that on Tuesday 12 January a transit style panel van (possibly white) with a blue wings and bonnet was seen on the rugby club driveway up behind the clubhouse. 2 men were seen to be poking around in the car park and especially at our storage compound area where the containers and shed are. When challenged they became abusive and aggressive.

Nothing appears to have been taken, but some of us did attend the club on Saturday and improved some of our security measures on gates and the like, and also repaired what appeared to be gap in the hedge from the bridleway / lane.

None of these actions will impinge on footpath users, but I did think you may wish to know in case, whilst checking out our property, the same people also had a look around at the residential properties nearby.

Regards

Simon Bilous

Chairman

Dursley Rugby Club

September has arrived, and the rugby season with it!

Although things are very different, the club will be restarting more rugby activity from this weekend, particularly regarding the return of Mini & Youth rugby from Sunday 6^th September.

The club has carefully planned this, with arrangements put in place to manage things in accordance with guidance from government and the Rugby Football Union.

Matches against other clubs are not yet allowed. So all Dursley groups will be training at home for now. To manage the numbers we have staggered arrival and departure times to prevent overcrowding.

We will, as always, manage the car parking carefully and do our best to avoid any problems on the roads. We will also prevent people using the Village Hall car park.

Training will also be continuing on weekday evenings for some groups, along with some bookings and events in the clubhouse. For the time being there will be no matches on a Saturday as this is not yet allowed.

Any queries, please direct these to Simon Bilous, Club Chairman.

Plans for restarting activity at the rugby club.

I am writing to bring you up to date about the plans for restarting activity at the rugby club.

You will be aware of the various announcements by government about the easing of lockdown restrictions including for sporting activity.

In light of this, the various sports governing bodies have also issued guidance, and the Club Management Committee has developed a plan for how best to proceed.

I want to reassure you that we remain acutely aware of the need to proceed with caution, taking a responsible approach in the interests of the safety and health of our members as well as of the wider community. We are all also having to learn as we go, having never had to do this before.

We are starting small and in a carefully managed way so we can assess how things work and adjust gradually, and all of our members have been given guidance about how to manage the space and to abide by the social distancing rules that still apply.

As a result, there will be some cricket nets practice starting during week beginning 8^th June, with some rugby and running / athletics club activity during week beginning 15^th June. This will take place on weekday evenings mainly, on our front playing field area and also on our pitch beyond the car park.

Some limited activity may also start on weekends during the day.

We will review how this works over several weeks and then develop our plan accordingly.

If anyone has any concerns or queries over this activity please contact me on simonbilous@gmail.com.

Regards

Simon Bilous
Chairman
Dursley Rugby Club

• Rugby Club restart
• Parish Plan
• Three Bears in Lockdown
• COVID-19 Testing at the Rugby Club
• Rugby Club Car Park

Signs up at Dursley RFC as work on the grounds continues. 

Due to the lockdown and sport being suspended, the rugby club is CLOSED.

The grounds team are using this additional time to work to improve the surfaces, including working the grounds with large machinery working, seeding and using chemicals (that may cause harm to animals or humans). 

The club is private property, but the footpaths crossing the grounds are open for public access as always… there will be no chemicals within 2m of a footpath (3.2m out from the hedgeline). So please keep your dogs on leads crossing the club grounds and if on the footpaths they will be safe.

If it’s been closed off and signed please do not just climb over as you do so at your own risk. 

Unfortunately people are still driving to the club to walk their dogs. Socialise…. (we’re not a picnic spot …especially the cricket square) and exercise. (We are still on LOCKDOW!!)

We are sorry for this disruption. We are working closely with the imediate local area of Stinchcombe and have had good conversations with local residents and the parish council to try and minimise the disruption to their opportunity to get out for their daily excersise.

We are trying to use this time of lockdown to minimise any disruption so once the enforcement is lifted we can get the club open to everyone again straight away and get everyone back into some much needed sport and social activities. 

If you must approach the team working please respect them and observe the 2m distance, they are working for a better social space for you.

#staysafe

#stayathome