PLANS for a cricket net and tennis court in Hawkley are moving forward.

Permission was granted for the new facilities in November by East Hampshire District Council planners on behalf of South Downs National Park Authority.

And since then significant progress has been made to help make the vision a reality.

A public meeting was held in the village in January, and since then fundraising has begun and a committee has been formed to help bring the project to fruition.

Antony Caesar, who is one of the trustees of Hawkley Village Hall, said: “We held a meeting in January, and there was a good turnout and a good debate.

“We think the whole project will cost about £40,000, and we are already raising money for it.

“The cricket net will be about £7,000, and the rest will be for the tennis court.

“The village hall and the social club has put up about 75 per cent of the costs, and the villagers will need to pay in about 25 per cent.

“The people of Hawkley are very generous, and if you ask them to put their hands in their pockets it is surprising how generous they are.”

Organisers hope to start work later this year and expect the project to only take a month to complete.

“We have formed a proper committee for the project, and they are going ahead with it and organising fundraisers,” said Antony.

“The plan is to start the work in May, and it should only take about a month to do everything so we plan to finish the work in June and have people using it then.

“The cricket season will have already started by then, so we will need to move the vehicles round the pitch as the bowlers won’t want to compete with vehicles.”

A tennis club has been set up to help manage the court when it is up and running.

“We have already set up a tennis club, with Philip Chippindale as chairman,” said Antony.

“It will be affiliated to Hawkley Sports Club, which also includes Hawkley Cricket Club, the darts and the table tennis.

“The tennis court will have a lock on the gate, and members will be able to get in the court. There has noticeably been a much greater interest in tennis since Great Britain won the Davis Cup, so hopefully it will be popular.”

A fundraising event has been organised in Hawkley Village Hall at 7.30pm on Saturday, March 19.

To view the approved application for the tennis court and cricket net visit www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning and search for the planning reference number SDNP/15/04436/FUL.