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Pinhoe Community Hub plans revealed

Tuesday, 20 August 2019 14:47

By Daniel Clark, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Subject to planning permission, construction would take place in 2021/22

A new library, a community café, and improved changing rooms will be provided as part of a new community hub for Pinhoe.

The new building, which will also include multi-purpose functions rooms and office space, will be built on the edge of the Station Road Playing Fields, next to the railway station.

The new hub will increase and expand community facilities, services, and enhance the lives of all in the ‘vibrant and expanding community’, details with the planning application submitted to Exeter City Council state.

Subject to planning permission, construction would take place in 2021/22, with the ultimate opening date for the building to be in 2022/23.

It follows two public consultations that called for a new library to replace the existing one housed in a temporary building off the main road through Pinhoe and that a new community hub should be built on the edge of the playing fields.

Details with the planning application state: “Pinhoe is clearly a vibrant and expanding community, able to sustain both established service provision and new and developing community initiatives, and the expanding and traditional communities will benefit from a physical community hub able to provide and develop services as the wider community evolves.

“The proposed location of the community hub is on the edge of the new developments and bridges both the established community and the growing new communities.

“There is widespread community support for the project and several community groups looking to relocate or establish in the new facility. Collectively their users include young people, elderly people, sports and physical activity, health and wellbeing and the library services including the provision of ICT services.”

The new community hub will include:

  • An improved library
  • A community café
  • Changing rooms for the sports fields, including shower facilities
  • Office space
  • Multi-use rooms

The application adds: “One of the key features of the new facility is the creation of an up-to-date and more appealing environment in which to accommodate the local library as currently the local library is housed in a temporary building off the main road through Pinhoe.

“After public consultations events around Pinhoe, the proposal site on the edge of the Station Road playing fields, using the existing changing rooms building was proposed, and a large percentage, 81 per cent of the community, voted in favour of the Community Hub location on the playing field site, instead of its retention on the existing library site.

“The community hub will be a contemporary purpose made space which will enable all age groups across the whole spectrum of the community to utilise different aspects of the services the hub will offer. The building has been designed to cater for all.

“The community hub will increase and expand the community facilities, services and enhance the lives of all in the local community and the new community library facility will form an integral part of the building and running the library service will provide employment opportunities as will other new services run within the centre.

“The new building proposals are to blend with the surrounding area whilst enabling it to have its own features and characteristics and the proposals positively support the planning policy and development plan for the area.”

The library and the sports changing rooms would remain at their current site until completion of the new community hub. Once completed, the community hub will be open six days a week (Monday-Saturday) from 8 am until 8pm, with very occasional evening use until 10pm.

Benefits of the community hub would include a physical space owned by the community which is both relaxed and welcoming to all, an economically and socially sustainable community hub, increase participation in health and leisure activities, and to enables groups to work together and with the adjacent GP practice to address social isolation, low physical activity and cross generation projects.

Exeter City Council will determine the fate of the application at a later date.

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