Plans to extend the community centre in Threemilestone have been granted planning permission by Cornwall Council.
This is fantastic news for the local community and for the Langarth Garden Village project, which has been working with Cornwall Council and other partners to support the village’s plans to extend and upgrade the current community centre as part of a wider programme of community investment projects in the Threemilestone and Highertown area.
About the community centre
While Threemilestone already has a very successful community centre, the hall was built to support around 1,000 people in the 1970s. With a population of more than 4,000 today, and the village continuing to grow, it is no longer big enough to cater for all the organisations which want to use it.
The building is currently used by the local community for a wide range of sporting, activity, club and other social events. These include education and training courses, local markets, arts and crafts activities, exercise classes, including keep fit and dancing, performances, and a range of contact sports. The centre also includes a bar and kitchen which enables people to socialise and host family and other celebrations and events.
The popularity of the community centre and the rising population in the village means there is a growing waiting list of organisations wanting to use the hall. There are also currently no public toilets in the village, with the nearest ones in Chacewater, two-and-a-half miles away.
At the end of last year Cornwall Council’s Cabinet agreed to provide £500,000 towards the costs of the scheme, enabling the much needed and long awaited project to move forward.
Extension plans
The plans approved by the Council include creating a new entrance foyer with an area for people to wait and shelter from the weather, and a digital information screen, improved access, an additional meeting room and storage space, fully accessible toilets with a ‘changing places’ facility with hoist, shower, and baby changing facilities.
The building will have solar panels on the roof to provide green energy, and a COVID-secure air filtration system.
Work will begin on constructing the first phase in spring 2021, with the Community Centre extension expected to be completed by summer 2021.
Community support
Welcoming the decision Mike Ashcroft, Chair of the Community Centre Management Committee, said he was super excited to see the commitment to improve the village facilities that will benefit all residents and other users from both within and outside the village.
Next steps
Further plans for the village include removing the central roundabout, providing more parking spaces to improve access to local businesses and health services and a new pedestrian and cycleway link to connect Threemilestone village directly to the new Langarth Garden Village. All of this will be complemented by new green spaces, landscaping and tree planting.
Improving the community centre will bring great benefits to Threemilestone, providing more space for community events and enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the building which lies at the heart of the village.
We are delighted that planning permission has been granted for the extension and can’t wait to see the exciting vision become reality.
Further information about the Council’s investment in projects in Threemilestone is available on the our website https://www.langarth.co.uk/investing-in-threemilestone/ where you can also view a short film about the project https://youtu.be/fFXUFTbv7Hc
