Institute Plans on display
The project to restore the Bridport Literary and Scientific Institute which is being undertaken by Bridport Area Development Trust, is making good progress.
For the past three months the Trust’s project group has been working with the consultants appointed with the help of English Heritage funding to develop plans and a feasibility study, which will be used to support a major bid to the Heritage Lottery later this summer for the capital costs of restoration. The bid’s prospects of success have been strengthened by commitments of significant match funding by Dorset County Council (£300,000) and West Dorset District Council (£100,000).
The plans will be on display at a public viewing in Bridport Town Hall next Friday 6 July, from 10 am till 1 pm. Project co-ordinator Crystal Johnson said, “Although a huge amount of progress has been made we are still at a very early stage with the project and there is a long way to go before we are able to apply for final funding. We’ve had a lot of community support for the project so far, which has been fantastic, so we hope people will come along and see our progress and plans for the building.”
“We are extremely grateful to the County and District councils for their commitments at this stage,” said Development Trust Chair Charles Wild this week. “This will be a substantial bid to the Heritage Lottery which if successful would enable us to restore this much-loved building and bring it back into community use, as well as creating significant local employment.
“It is also encouraging recognition that the Trust’s plans represent by far the best opportunity so far to solve a long-standing problem for the councils and the community.
“We would also like to thank Bridport Town Council for its generous in-kind support in terms of officer advice and meeting space.”
“We believe that reopening of the Institute and its restoration to educational and community uses which would be largely in line with the aims of its philanthropic nineteenth century founders will help to give a much-needed lift to this end of the town, already under way with the revival of the Lyric Theatre and the plans for the Unitarian Chapel in the Garden.”
The Chapel on the Beach
The Bridport Area Development Trust has agreed to take over the freehold of the former Methodist Church in West Bay, known as “the Chapel on the Beach”, and plans to convert it to use as a visitor/interpretation centre.
The Chapel has been empty and unused since it ceased use as a place of worship in 2006. The Grade II Listed building reverted to the landowner, West Dorset District Council, which has been looking for an alternative use, since no religious denomination could be found to take it on. The Trust responded to a request from the council for expressions of interest, and the building will be transferred for a nominal price of £1, with a donation from the council towards conversion costs.
The formal transfer of the building from West Dorset District Council to the Development Trust will take place in July 2012.
A project proposal for the visitor centre has been developed in consultation with local residents, proposing display and interpretation material (including digital technology) on the history and heritage of one of Britain’s smallest harbours, and its place on the Dorset and East Devon World Heritage Site (Jurassic Coast). Funding has now been secured from the Dorset AONB and the Bridport Area Community (Car Boot Sale) Fund to convert the proposal into a business plan.
BADT Chair and former West Bay resident Charles Wild said, “West Bay lacks an all-weather attraction and these proposals revive earlier ideas for a centre considered as part of the abortive regeneration plans for the Mound area, which were thwarted by Environment Agency concerns in 2005-6. Once the transfer of the building is complete we’ll be talking to people to get their ideas and start to shape the development of the centre, which we hope could be open next spring.”
News about the Chapel project will be posted on the Trust’s website, www.bridportadt.org.uk, and people who would like to know more about the plans or who would like to get involved are invited to contact the trustees on bridportadt@btinternet.com, or telephone Charles Wild on 01308-420808.
Bridport Area Development Trust launches website
The Bridport Area Development Trust was set up in 2009 with the aim of delivering community projects in Bridport and the surrounding area of West Dorset. The BADT is currently taking the lead on projects to restore the Bridport Literary and Scientific Institute and the former Methodist Chapel in West Bay and bring them back into community use.
The Trust aims to help deliver some of the community projects and aspirations identified through public consultation by the Bridport Local Area Partnership (BLAP). It is a registered Charity and its charitable objects include the preservation of buildings or sites of historic or architectural importance, the maintenance, improvement or provision of public amenities, the creation of training and employment opportunities by the provision of workspace, and the protection or conservation of the environment.
Membership of the Bridport Area Development Trust is open to local community groups and organisations. The BADT has about 25 members: its trustees are all unpaid volunteers from the Bridport area community. The six trustees are Charles Wild (Chair), Tim Crabtree (Secretary), Vince O’Farrell (Treasurer), Felicity Fairbairn, Diane May and Cllr Sarah Williams (representing Bridport Town Council).
Writing in the Bridport News earlier this year, West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin said, “It is very good news that a development trust has recently been established in Bridport. And it’s even better news that the Bridport Development Trust is now hard at work putting together a really serious plan for the revival of the Bridport Literary and Scientific Institute.”
The BADT has just launched its own website at www.bridportadt.org.uk, and the Trust can be contacted on bridportadt@btinternet.com.
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RE: Bridport Area Development Trust
’bout time