Mini golf course and cricket nets planned for Bristol Downs

A miniature golf course and cricket nets are planned for the Downs to get more people involved in the sport. The new sports facilities would also help raise extra money to pay for the maintenance of the north Bristol park and public toilets.

A miniature golf operator has proposed building the new course behind the water tower. He would be responsible for the maintenance of the nearby public toilet block. The England and Wales Cricket Board is also keen to help set up new nets on the Downs.

Updates on the new sports facilities were given to the Downs committee on Monday 10th June. Lack of cash to maintain the historic park has been a recurring problem for years, but new sports facilities could help fill the funding gap.

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Luke Mackenzie, Downs business development manager, said: “We have had an approach from an operator who wants to do mini golf, which they would like to do behind the water tower. That would involve taking over the second toilet block in that area. They should operate and open toilets for public use.

“But that would take the burden of repairing the building and maintaining it. This would be proposed on a lease for a period yet to be agreed which would bring additional annual income to the Downs committee and also reduce costs which are currently borne by the council.”

In addition to miniature golf, cricket and padel are also planned. Multipurpose play areas could also be installed and personal trainers encouraged to use these areas instead of holding classes on grass. The Downs Committee could charge them a small fee for each class.

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Mr Mackenzie added: “We looked at some cricket nets. The ECB is keen to invest in sport in Bristol, as it sees it as an area that perhaps hasn’t had as much as possible. We are trying to see if we can get some funding for them and provide a facility that can then be used and rented out.

“The other sport we are looking at is padel. Maybe we could get an operator to come and use part of the Downs to take that over. I had some initial conversations with the legal department about what might be allowed. For padel courts, you would need some walls around it.

“Obviously, if there is no premises, there is no income. It would just be an additional cost to the council. We’re also looking at the potential for some multi-use play areas that could go over some of the PTs (personal trainers), maybe try to get some of them off the grass. This would make it much easier for us to control the load to use our facilities.”