British Rowing permitted to revamp training base

A new boathouse can now be built on the site, which was used by Team GB rowers in May 2021

A project to revamp a facility used by the country's elite rowers has been approved.

British Rowing submitted the plan to "improve and modernise" the Sherriff's Boathouse at the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham and build a new boathouse on the site in the summer.

The plan for the site, which is used by about 60 world class rowers and 20 staff on a daily basis, was approved earlier this month.

The facility was built in 2006 and extended in 2013, but athletes' needs have "evolved" since then, British Rowing said in its application.

It will benefit from an improved physiotherapy room and coaching offices, along with more accessible changing rooms for women.

South Oxfordshire District Council concluded the plan was acceptable because it would not cause visual harm, increase flood risk or risk highway safety.

Reading Borough Council said in the summer that it worried it could "adversely affect the safety and flow of users of the existing road network" in its area.

The current boathouse is named after businessman David Sherriff, who came up with the idea of the British Rowing base, donated the land, and paid for the project to go through the planning process.