THE expansion of a blossoming bowling club has won the support of a Peebles group – as long as other funding is successfully sourced.

Peebles Bowling Club submitted an application to the town’s Common Good Fund for £10,000 to support its plans, which centre around the transformation of the clubhouse.

The expansion project is expected to cost around £370,000, according to papers filed with the bid.

At a meeting on Wednesday (April 19), the fund’s sub committee backed the plans, subject to the club sourcing the rest of the funding.

It heard that should the cash fail to be sourced then the project would not go ahead and the £10,000 would not be needed.

Sub committee chair Robin Tatler, a councillor for Tweeddale East, said: “This is obviously a really big project, there’s a huge amount of funding to be raised.

“It’s that chicken and egg thing where we really need to see all the funding sources coming on board, I think our bit will probably be the final bit.

“My proposal would be that in principle we would approve but we would look for them to come back to us when they are a little bit further down the funding campaign to consider our contribution.”

Fellow ward councillor Marshall Douglas, of the SNP, added: “I think a similar application came before the Area Partnership from the bowling club.

“It’s certainly a worthwhile project and I think we should probably be involved in it but at a later stage.”

Peebles Bowling Club, formed in 1829, has experienced a boom in membership in recent years – from 89 in 2016 to more than 200 as of October 2022.

It is hoped that the expansion will see the popular facility continue to attract new members.

A club spokesperson said: “We believe that our club provides a valuable service to the community, promoting physical activity and social engagement among our members. We are confident that the new clubhouse will allow us to continue to grow and thrive.

“At present, for example, we have no indoor toilet for the use of male members, and no disabled toilets, and visiting teams and general visitors must use a wooden hut to change and store their belongings.

“It will allow us to continue to attract new members to the sport of bowling.”

Wednesday’s meeting was also told that Common Good land formed part of the development area.

Members heard that an eight-week public consultation would be necessary over the proposed change of use, despite it being a small section of land.