SILSDEN PAVILION REFURBISHMENT TO GO AHEAD
Since September 2023, the Silsden Pavilion Community Group has been meeting with Bradford Council to discuss the restoration of the Pavilion. All this time, Bradford has insisted the Section 106 monies should be spent on the restoration of the pavilion to make it weatherproof, AND the work had to be carried out by their approved contractors.
The quote from the contractors for the external work was estimated to cost £240K, which is substantially more than the S106 monies available. This would have included the reroofing of the existing roof, re-rendering the external walls, new gutters and downpipes, and new doors and windows, ONLY. The windows and doors have already been replaced, which has left us with £194,637 of S106 money to complete Phase 1 of the refurbishment.
This basic work would have meant that the building would be secure and weatherproof, but it would not meet the needs of the users of the park.
In our survey, you said you would like a community building, a place to meet, which had refreshments and toilet facilities. With that in mind, we have been working towards a design to include these wishes – enlarging the building slightly by squaring off the two ends, which will enable us to create a unisex toilet with baby-changing facilities and a separate disabled toilet, and “opening up” the internal area to create one large useful room. There will be a kitchen to provide snacks and hot and cold drinks (and ice creams) for all park users. To further future-proof the building and make it DDA compliant, we plan to lower the existing floor level to create one floor level throughout for ease of access, and to completely reroof the building, thus eliminating the flat roofs.
From the outside, the pavilion will not look much different; it will be smarter, and it will be warm!
None of this would have been possible had Bradford carried out the work, as they could not give us a usable building with the money available. On 29th October of this year, Bradford confirmed that they could “passport” the remaining section 106 monies, £194,637, to the landowner, Silsden Town Council, as an approved body, who would then forward the monies to the Silsden Pavilion Community Group. The legalities of this operation are currently being finalised to suit all parties.
This means we will be able to appoint our own contractors or subcontractors, subject to Bradford’s agreement, of course.
If you wish to see more details, please visit our website “https://silsdenpavilion.org.uk/”, in particular for the existing and proposed future internal layouts and reroofing plans.
Where are we now?
- We are instructing an architect to produce drawings/plans and to obtain the necessary planning permission.
- With these working drawings, we will be able to obtain quotations from at least three suitably qualified local builders to carry out the work. Hopefully, with work starting in spring/early summer.
(This is only phase 1 of the project, and we will have to raise money to make the inside of the building usable. Some phase 2 work may be done as part of phase 1, but we will have to raise money to complete the project.)
- We are currently in the process of forming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
We would like to thank
Paul Kilgallon for the professional advice given to us, Gill Bennison, Bradford Council’s Project Development Officer for Parks & Greenspaces, and Silsden Town Council for their help and support.
It has been a hard slog for the past 2+ years, but we have finally achieved the FIRST of our goals
