WiNSpace gone out to Tender

The design team, led by our Architects B2, have now completed all the design details.  This includes the layouts, the building structure, the heating & ventilation system, the electrical design and supply requirements. They are aiming to create a really sustainable building which not only will provide fantastic spaces but a place which gives the community a focal point to meet.  This has all been put together as a single package so that:

WiNSpace is now out for Tender!

This is a major milestone which means we are on schedule to start the construction phase later this year. We are all working hard to ensure we stay on track, with lots to do; raising more funds, completing the legal requirements for Grants and selling the Headmasters’ house. From our recent User meeting, we have created a FAQ page on our website. Why not go to winspace.org.uk to find out more, look for:

New Images of WiNSpace have arrived

For our User Information Evening our Architects have created some new 3D images of how the building will look once built these can be seen below and throughout our website. We’re now very close to sending out all the drawing to construction companies to allow them to tender for the construction.

View From Millennium Green

Special User Information Meeting 7th March

WiNSpace and the WCA trustees are holding an information evening at the Community Centre on Thursday 7th March, for an update on developments for our long-awaited new Community Centre. We are excited to share our progress so far, and to explain details of the project going forward, as the start of the build is only 6 months away.

At this meeting we will be able to show how the new community centre will look, and give our timeline for the start of the projected build. We have plans of the building, and proposals for the inside layout which we want to share. We can answer questions, and welcome suggestions as to how it will benefit the community. Your opinion really does count!

We also want to share our plans for the transition phase, during the construction, and what the possible impacts on users could be.

We want to involve as many users and future users of the site, to help drive this project forward as smoothly as possible. This whole project has been run by volunteers who want to serve the community, and to create a new centre for you and future generations in the village.

The evening will start at 6.30pm with a formal presentation at around 7.00pm. There will be plenty of time after this for you to talk to members of WiNSace to ask questions and look at the plans. Refreshments will be available.

WiNSpace Floor and Site Layouts are now being finalised

More details for the floor and room layouts are now being sent over from our Architects B2. It’s amazing what they are able to put into our Phase 1 building. Once completed we’ll have four different size and style rooms and spaces available for you to use, plus all the other normal community centre facilities. In the building we’ll have a

  • 130 seat space for larger functions, shows and events
  • A rear activity hall (with about the same space as our current main hall)
  • A front meeting room (50% larger than our Amesbury Room)
  • A large kitchen with an additional rear entrance and storage, plus a small one on the first floor
  • A large open foyer
  • Storage in each of the main rooms and foyer
  • Plus office spaces

We are now in the stage of creating specifications for the electrical, ventilation and heating systems. Keep coming back to the website and keep up to date with what is going on.

Parish Council Survey Results are in

During November and December the Winscombe and Sandford Parish Council opened a survey to gauge the support of financially supporting the WiNSpace project via a £250,000 Grant (paid via the precept) and £250,000 Loan (repaid by the WCA). The results have now been issued on the Parish Web site and can be view on their site or downloaded below.

The results were really positive and the WCA Trustees and WiNSpace committee would like to thanks everyone who completed the survey either on-line or by the occasional newsletter.

The Parish Council have now agreed their 2024/25 budget which included the appropriate precept increase to provide the Grant. The WCA Trustees are now discussing with the Parish Council the legal details to allow the monies to be provided to the WiNSpace project.

Go WiNSpace 24 – WiNSpace receives £300,000 grant from the UK Government Community Ownership Fund

We have just heard from the Government’s Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities that the WiNSpace project has been awarded in principle £300,000.

This award comes from the Community Ownership Fund and is one of only 26 community centres and village halls in the whole of the UK to receive funding for community projects  This is fantastic news given that across the UK, requests for funding significantly outstrip the funds that were available.

A great deal of work goes into the writing of funding applications and our thanks go to the Winscombe and Sandford Parish Council and John Penrose MP, for their much appreciated formal letters of support for our application. We now await a meeting in January with the Department to discuss the details of our project and to sign an official funding agreement.

This award brings us even closer to the goal of building and modernising the Winscombe Community Centre for everyone, now with over 75% of funding identified and a start date penciled in for this August.  We also still have other grant applications being assessed, including one for £200,000 from the National Lottery, so over the next two months we’ll hopefully bring you more good news stories and project updates.

This means that it’s all systems ‘Go WiNSpace 24’

Dec 23: Go WiNSpace 24 campaign launched

With our successful Community Ownership Fund bid we have now launched our ‘Go WiNSpace 24’ campaign which will drive us through to starting the build phase of the project this summer. The latest news about how we are progressing towards our goal can be found on our Go WiNSpace 24 page.

For information on the building design and programme plans please head to Go WiNSpace 24 – Our Plans

For information of our Grant providers, Donors and Supports please head to Go WiNSpace 24 – Our Funders

WiNSpace gets Planning Approval

So after 11 months of waiting and the submission of 35 documents we have just learnt that:

Our plans for the development of the Winscombe Community Centre have been approved by the North Somerset Local Planning Authority.

If you wish to read in full what the Planners had to say and the conditions which have been attached to the planning have a look at the NS Planning Portal at North Somerset Planning 21/P/1037/FUL.

These are just some of the comments made in the planning report:

‘the proposed development has been designed to be sympathetic to its surroundings as well as providing the community with an improved community facility’

‘the location of the proposed development is well related to the community it is intended to serve and is genuinely accessible by sustainable modes of transport’.

‘the results of a protected species survey conclude that there is negligible potential for protected species to be affected by the development’

The planners have placed 24 conditions to the planning application, these include:

  • We start building within 3 years
  • We build in accordance with the plans we submitted including drainage schemes, tree protection & ecology assessments.
  • We gain final agreement from the Local Planning Authority for external wall and roof materials, building heights, external light scheme and drainage management & maintenance, before starting the build.
  • We have approval for the Construction Environmental & Ecological Management Plan, Construction Method Plan & Noise Management Plan.
  • We don’t start using the new building until we have provisioned the parking, electric charging points for vehicles, racks for 28 bikes, and solar panels & air source heat pumps, installed and working.

In Summary, this is a massive step forward with an approved design to take forward to funders and potential users. With nearly £1.3m of funding already identified, we have just 40% left to go. Individually, we can also dare to start dreaming of how we will use the Centre, and the activities and clubs we’d like to see.