TORFAEN bowls clubs yesterday welcomed news that the council will continue to maintain their greens.

It was feared that cutbacks could spell the end for the clubs as Torfaen Council considered stopping the maintenance of the greens in a bid to save £228,000 a year.

Members of the Eastern Valley Bowling Association, which is made up of eight clubs, Garndiffaith, Blaenavon, Pontypool, Croesyceiliog, Pontnewydd, Panteg Park, Girlings and Cwmbran, and play on seven bowling greens in Torfaen, said that this move could lead to clubs closing as members would not be able to maintain the greens themselves.

Speaking before the council’s latest move, the secretary of Pontypool Park bowls club, Tony Hewitt, said: “They should appreciate that many of the members are in their 70s and 80s, so they cannot be expected to do it.”

The authority had planned to vote on the withdrawal of £228,000 in funding on February 28. However, yesterday Torfaen Council announced that savings have been found elsewhere and the council can continue maintaining the greens.

A council spokesman said: “The final budget to be considered by cabinet on February 14 no longer contains the proposal on the funding to maintain bowling greens.

“The council will consider total savings of over £5 million this year, which still allows for investment in priority areas such as schools, social care and waste - but has avoided significant cuts elsewhere and avoided compulsory redundancies.”

Although this was welcome news, the clubs fear that this proposal could come up again in the future.

The secretary for Cwmbran Bowling Club, Howard Rees, said: “It is good news and bad news.

“Our players are getting older, and this decision could happen next year.”

Eastern Valley Bowling Association’s secretary Bob Price, 68, from Pontypool, also welcomed the news and explained that the greens are used every day and the clubs have more than 300 members between them.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Bowled over!

JUST 24 hours after we reported on a threat to bowling clubs in Torfaen because of a threat over funding, it is fantastic to announce a U-turn.

Torfaen council said it would no longer maintain greens as it looked to save £228,000.

But yesterday it said it had found the savings elsewhere, much to the delight of many.

Had funding been withdrawn, club members, many of whom are in their 70s and 80s, would have been expected to carry out maintenance work themselves.

This led to worries that many clubs would simply cease to operate.

Bowling is a wonderful outlet for many elderly people.

Not having the facility would have not only deprived them of the sport they love but also a chance to get out and meet others.

Of course, we recognise the difficulties councils face in looking to cut funding at the moment but £228,000 from a budget of many millions of pounds is a mere drop in the ocean.

It’s a real victory for common sense.