Options for Whitchurch Civic Centre narrowed down following consultation
Whitchurch Civic Centre
People in and around Whitchurch say they would like to see Whitchurch Civic Centre repaired, or demolished and replaced with a new building providing similar facilities and activities, according to the results of a recent consultation that asked for views about the future of the building.
The centre is currently closed – except for the sports/market hall – after specialist engineers found that RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) exists across the majority of the Civic Centre complex, and that it has major structural issues.
In the consultation – that ran from 30 April to 11 June 2024 – people were asked which of six possible options they liked, or didn’t like – to enable these options to be narrowed down. They were also asked about their usage of the Civic Centre in the past and at present, and which facilities and services they think should be available in the future.
In total, 1130 responses were received, which equates to 10% of the population of Whitchurch.
As a result of the consultation a working group set up to consider the future of the building will now carry out a feasibility study into the two most popular options – to either repair or replace the centre, before presenting a business case to Shropshire Council’s Cabinet.
The working group is made up of local Shropshire Councillors, Whitchurch Town Councillors, and officers from both councils
Paul Wynn, Shropshire Councillor for Prees, and chairman of the working group said:
“We know the importance of the Civic Centre to Whitchurch and to people who live in and around the town and we launched this consultation as we really wanted to hear people’s views about the future of the building, and about how they use – or have used – the building.
“I want to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. We had an incredible response that shows that the Civic Centre is clearly a vital and well-used feature of the town, both by residents of the town and nearby villages. And, from the results it was very clear that people’s preference is to either repair or replace the Centre. Officers will now carry out further work to determine the feasibility and costs of these two options, and we hope to provide a further update in September.”
The consultation report is set to be published later this month.
Further information
The six options put forward for consideration, and the order in which respondents ranked them, were:
- Replacement of structural roof and associated essential items
- RAAC to remain in place and mitigated through internal structural framework, repairs to spalled concrete and full replacement of roof membranes.
- Demolition and rebuild as existing facilities provision.
- Demolition and redevelopment of the site.
- Demolition and clearing of site.
- Do nothing and close the building permanently.
The first two will now be considered together as a single ‘repair’ option. The last three have now been ruled out by the Working Group.
