PLANS for a new community centre on land to the east of Spa Road, are moving forward – and doubling in size.
Melksham Town Council has taken over the community centre project from the developers – responsible for the building of 450 new houses on land off Snowberry Lane – and are planning to “borrow” the designs for Berryfield’s village hall from Melksham Without Parish Council, which received planning permission last year.
These plans will double the size of the community centre that was originally planned by developers for the land adjacent to the Spa Medical Centre.
The developers’ design, submitted last year for planning permission, was described by the town council as ‘not fit for purpose’, ‘inadequate’, and ‘too small’ to serve the community in that area – which could house around 1,200 residents.
The plans, which had a total building footprint of approximately 100 square metres, were subsequently withdrawn. The town council is now working with BTA Architects, who designed the Berryfield village hall, to submit a planning application for a community centre that is over double the size of the one originally planned.
It is expected that the design will be “identical” to that of the Berryfield village hall, which will have a total building footprint of 256 square metres.
The plans include a main hall, a meeting room/small hall, a kitchen, storage space and toilets. The project costing almost £1million, which has been described as “one of the biggest” that the council will be involved in over the coming years, will be funded using Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies – financial contributions made by developers towards the cost of supporting infrastructure.
The plans for the village hall design will be presented to councillors at an upcoming town council meeting.
