State-of-the-art sports centre to become heart of new Richmond Education and Enterprise Campus being created in Twickenham

As part of the ongoing developments Richmond Upon Thames College and The Richmond Upon Thames School will jointly run, use and share the cost of the innovative facilities in Egerton Road.

Plans to construct a two-storey building with a fitness gym, sports massage lab, activity studio and four-court sports halls have already been approved.

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Kelly Dooley, headteacher of The Richmond upon Thames School, said: “We have worked hard to design a sports building that we believe will be world-class, offering state-of-the-art facilities.

“We hope it will become a focus of sporting achievement for all the young people educated at the college and RTS.”

It has been announced that local residents will also have access to the new facilities outside teaching hours and a membership system will enable use of the fitness gym and to hire spaces.

“We also hope that the building will benefit the wider community and, in time the facilities will be available to local groups and organisations,” added Ms Dooley.

Richmond College and RTS are now asking residents for their say on the detailed designs and how the building can benefit the community.

Elements including the external elevations, landscaping, parking, and access are all being considered to help develop a building which will reflect the rest of the campus.

Proposals for car parking spaces, available to the staff during the day and community out-of-hours, and at least 40 short-stay cycle spaces adjacent to the sports building are included in the designs.

Robin Ghurbhurun, principal of Richmond upon Thames College, added: “I am delighted that Richmond upon Thames College and RTS will work collaboratively on operating the new specialist sports facilities on the existing Egerton Road site.

“The college is a keen advocate of promoting well-being and healthy living and these new specialist facilities with the latest equipment will benefit all students, either as part of studying sports courses or for recreational purposes, as well as all staff working on the campus.”

The school and college have partnered with Haymarket Media Group, Harlequins, Richmond Council and Achieving for Children to create an innovative campus to further education, sport and fitness.

Building work has already begun on new buildings for RTS and purpose-built accommodation for Clarendon Special needs school with work on Richmond College’s new main building to follow later this year.

Construction work on Haymarket’s new ‘tech hub’ and digital media incubator is also planned to follow later this year and two grass sports pitches to replace Cranford Way’s playing field.

The consultation stage closes at midnight on May 10.

To have your say, go to www.reec.org.uk/what-will-be-on-the-campus