A PLANNING application has been submitted to revamp a community centre and improve services with a sustainability focus.
Rodborough Parish Council has submitted an application to Stroud District Council for a redevelopment of the existing community hall with a new first floor element.
The plans would see Rodborough community hall modernised with additional solar panels and a larger space improving facilities for members of the public.
A council document says that the current community centre is “no longer fit for purpose” and “does not provide enough space for the growing community.”
It also says “the project seeks to improve the range of services the community centre offers to meet the growing demands of the community.”
“Whilst also improving the thermal efficiency of the building to reduce energy demands.”
Proposals also include a new toilets and changing area, cycle parking and the creation of a larger hall and two other meeting rooms.
The plans also include a separate downstairs area for the parish council with a welcome entrance point.
The venue is already home to various groups like Stroud String Ensemble, Five Valleys Bridge Club and other activities like tai chi, pilates and yoga.
Chair of the community hall development working group Robin Drury-Layfield said the plans would serve the community for the next fifty years and more.
He said: “When I look at these plans, I see a building that will accommodate the whole of the community at every age – from the very youngest through to Rodborough youth and seniors.
“It has accessibility and inclusion baked in.
“These designs breathe new life into a much-loved community asset that is set to serve the community for the next fifty years and more.
“They demonstrate the clear breadth of vision, not only of the working group that has put in hundreds of hours into the project but of our amazing architects Mitchell Eley Gould who have taken that brief and developed a fantastic design for the community hall.
“A design that is socially inclusive, environmentally focused and community conscious.”
Rodborough Parish Council chair Paul Gibson said the designs were ‘remarkable’.
He said: “The shell of the old community hall ingeniously supports a second storey which includes a new parish office.
“This remarkable new design from award-winning architects Mitchel Eley Gould will provide three new multi-activity spaces to serve the needs of our community for many generations to come.
“The hall will be encased within a thermal envelope designed to meet EnerPhit Passive House specifications, which we hope will be an exemplar for future developments of this type.
“The exterior is clad in timber combined with coloured sinusoidal metal referencing the industrial red brick buildings in the area – a striking concept to stir the imagination and inspire creativity.
“Alongside the building will be a changing places toilet facility, available for 24 hours to disabled key holders.”
The community hall was originally built in the early 1980s as a facility for the local football club.
At the moment it comprises a main hall, a kitchen, a small office, some toilet facilities, two sets of large communal showers and changing facilities for home and away teams, and a small shower and changing room for the referee.
Rodborough Parish Council declared a carbon emergency in 2019, and the renovation would help reduce the community centre's energy use.
You can view the application by visiting www.stroud.gov.uk/planning and quoting reference S.22/1837/FUL.
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