A popular south Bucks gymnastics club could double in size after the council paved the way for a new £750,000 centre within a Prestwood leisure centre.

Abbey Gym Club, which has been based at Prestwood Junior School for 25 years, is a step closer to building its own space at Sprinters Leisure Centre, Honor End Lane, after Chiltern District Councillors agreed in principle to the plan last week.

The club says its waiting list has grown from 72 in 1995 to around 330 today, which equates to a wait of between two and three years for girls.

The club’s current floor space is less than a quarter of the size recommended by British Gymnastics and the club’s chairman says an upgrade is long overdue.

“The main reason for doing it is so that we can train gymnasts efficiently and so we can reduce the waiting list,” said Sue Egan, Abbey Gym Club chairman.

“We hope to double the number of sessions to allow another 240 kids the chance to take part.

“To have that would be absolutely brilliant and would be of great benefit to local children – it’s a very exciting time for the club.”

Ms Egan said the club hopes to obtain grant funding via British Gymnastics. 

The club has 240 gymnasts aged between four and 18 years-old taking part in sessions each week with an estimated 85 per cent of these coming from the Prestwood and Great Missenden area.

They practice a range of gymnastic disciplines including floor, vault, beam and bars.

Mrs Egan added: “Another reason for wanting to have our own facility is that we do not have enough room to have the boys’ equipment which they need when they are getting older.

“If we have high quality athletes, we have to pass them on to other clubs which is not ideal.

“One thing we are very keen to maintain is our family ethos. We are not pushing the children to be in the Olympics, we just want them to enjoy it.

“We want to make sure any new coaches share that ethos. The standard of coaching here is absolutely brilliant here and a lot of that is down to head coach Mourine Evans.”

Because the proposal involves using part of a playing field at the leisure centre, the club will have to wait for the approval of Sport England before it can go ahead with the build.