A LITTLE corner of the Holme Valley could take on a Gallic air.

Honley Village Community Trust wants to set up two boules pitches.

The group has asked Kirklees Council for planning permission which would allow villagers to play the French bowling game outside Honley Village Hall.

Trust committee member John Murray hopes boules will encourage more people to use the hall.

“It would be good fun and it would benefit the whole of the village,” he told the Examiner yesterday.

“It’s a sport which can be enjoyed by everyone, whether young or old.

“Supplying something that’s useable by everyone in the village is part of our constitution.”

Mr Murray added: “The idea comes from people in the trust who have played the game overseas. As in France, there will be nothing to stop anyone coming along to have a game.”

The trust has asked Kirklees for permission to set up two pitches outside the hall on the corner of Roundway and Meltham Road. The playing area would be 14 metres long, 7 metres wide and 10cm deep.

The area would be marked out with railway sleepers.

Mr Murray said: “It’s a flat area which will allow two games to take place at once during daylight.”

Kirklees received the planning application on September 30. Public consultation on the proposal runs from October 7 to November 4.

Council officers are due to decide on the issue by November 25.

Mr Murray hopes that the plan gets the green light.

“I’m pretty sure this will get approval,” he said.

“The police have approved it and the council have come down to have a look so I don’t see any reason why it won’t be approved.”

Boules is popular in France and is often played in public spaces like village squares

The sport is usually played with heavy metal balls on a sand pitch

Like crown green bowling, the aim of the game is to get your ball as close as possible to the jack

Unlike the English version, in boules the ball is thrown rather than rolled at the target

Boules is also popular in Spain and Italy, where it is known as “bocce”.