Your club needs YOU!

Four full size pitches with drainage - and grass! Proper floodlights. All weather training pitches. A clubhouse to be proud of. The best rugby club in the area. Training on weekday evenings when we want to train, not just when there is space. A club big enough and with facilities good enough to host major tournaments, like the National 7s, regional matches - maybe even internationals!

Sounds good? Well, if you've seen the plans in the clubhouse then you'll know that all this - and more - could be your club at Letchworth. And to get it all you need to do is write a letter.

Basically, the plans you have seen are not a foregone conclusion. They have to go through the local planning process and - even with the support of the Foundation - it does not mean that permission will be given. There may be objections, and we need to balance that with as many people as possible writing in in favour of what is proposed.

A petition is no good, and everyone sending in the same letter will also be ignored - or just counted as one letter. So we cannot produce a draft letter for everyone to sign - you'll need to write your own.

It needn't be long, though. And if you are stuck for things to mention you could include...

• Say that you are writing about the planning application for Letchworth Rugby Club.
• Tell them about the overcrowding - the club has expanded so much that there is barely enough room for everyone to train, or even host home matches when we need to. The problems of midweek training. Overused pitchers. Limits access to the club and the game.
• Changing facilities - need improving, especially for the needs of girls.
• Parking - a bit chaotic at times at the moment. Limits what the club can do.
• Hosting tournaments. Remind them of the success of Herts 7s in 2006. Letchworth can be brilliant hosts - we have the skills and the expertise - but we are now too small to host such an event again (with U15s now you need four pitches). We are in a fantastic location (right near the A1) - national events, even women's internationals, are not impossible! 
• Remind them what we have done - especially the girls section. 
• And tell them how important the game is to you.

Then send your letter to...

Mr Simon Ellis

Senior Planning Officer

Council Offices

North Herts District Council

Gernon Road

Letchworth Garden City

SG6 3JF

(or save a stamp and drop it in next time you are in town).

Seriously - this is important - and support from the players in the girls section could make a huge difference. And what else have you got planned for the rest of the Easter break?