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.