Open to all residents: Sandgate's new Petanque Terrain!

Sandgate Parish Council has recently taken a lease on the Military Road Recreation Area, with responsilbility to maintaining and improving the park passing to the Parish Council from shepway District Council.

A number of improvements to the existing facilities are being planned and grant applications are being submitted, but the first new facility is already in place - a free to use Petanque Terrain at the top of the recreation area. The currently derelict pavilion is a clear priority, but issues with asbestos in the roof are slowing efforts to get this back into action (or at least decorated to improve the look of it) but talks with Shepway District Council are in progress.

Petanque - sometimes known as Boules - is hugely popular in France and is also widely played in the UK as well. The rules of the game can be found at http://www.petanque.org/news/rules/official_rules.shtml - but basically, you try to get your boules as close to the jack as possible - a bit like crown bowles, but by throwing rather than bowling your boules.

An opening competition with teams from across Shepway facing teams from Sandgate's twin town of Sangatte will take place on 7th July.