A TENNIS club which is due to celebrate its centenary in four years has had the green light for revised plans to replace its crumbling timber club house.

Plans were first approved for a replacement base for Chepstow Tennis Club four years ago in July 2021.

But while a fourth court, for juniors with a practice wall, and LED floodlights approved in 2021 have been put in place at Mathern Road, the not-for-profit community sports club was struggling to finance the new clubhouse.

In May this year it submitted revised plans for a lower-cost above-ground clubhouse structure in place of the originally approved design, which would also have a reduced height, at a maximum of three metres, and a smaller floor area compared to the original plans.

The originally proposed building was to be finished in render with timber cladding while the alternative will be finished in timber cladding with part natural colour and part grey. The roof will be grey coloured bitumen sheets.

Monmouthshire County Council planning officer Kate Young said no third parties would be affected by making the building smaller or by altering the finishing materials, and the difference in materials aren’t so signficiant that the impact would affect the street scene and the changes could be accepted as non-material amendments and approved.

When the revised application was made, by club official Ben Durman, he said it had around 50 per cent of the funding required will be looking for support from grant giving bodies and it has worked with a quantity surveyor to manage costs.

Mr Durman said at the time of the application: “We hope to be able to go full steam ahead with fundraising once the planning permission hopefully comes through.”

Founded in 1929, the club was initially located at St Pierre before relocating in the early 1960s. Initially, it was part of the Chepstow Athletic Club, alongside other sports teams like cricket, football, archery, and bowls.