Club scores planning win

A NAILSEA football club is celebrating after winning a planning appeal to put new changing rooms at its ground.Nailsea United Football Club has learnt this week it has successfully appealed against a decision by North Somerset Council to reject its plans to site three temporary buildings at its ground at The Grove.Currently the club lease the ground from Nailsea Town Council and before moving ahead with its plans, has to secure the council's permission.The news will mean the club can greatly improve its changing facilities for its 120 adult and 300 junior players.The new facilities will include a home team changing room, away team changing room and changing and showering facilities for referees.There will also be disabled facilities and a kiosk selling refreshments.Nailsea United Football Club chairman Spencer Lee said: "At the moment the facilities are very oversubscribed."Players only have an average of 0.4 square metres of space to change in, when Football Association guidelines says it should be far more."The new changing facilities will help us rectify this. It will make such a difference to the club."The club has already raised some money towards the £20,000 cost of the temporary cabins but is hoping to apply to the Football Association and other organisations for extra funding.The club says the introduction of the new changing facilities will make it easier for the club to move up to the next footballing league.Mr Lee said: "At the moment our facilities do not fit the criteria needed to move up into the Western League."With the new facilities this is something we can work towards."The club has been at the ground since the 1940s but has been operating in the town for the last 100 years.The town council will consider whether to give its consent for the changing rooms at a meeting of the leisure facilities on April 26.