On Monday 2^nd March, the Cottonmill and Sopwell Hub committee met with the SADC Marlborough Pavilion Project Management Team.

As mentioned previously, the project is now at pre-construction stage. The council have also identified the funding, in principle, for the whole Marlborough Pavilion redevelopment project. The funding will come from a share of the capital receipt from the Leyland Avenue project (redevelopment of the old Sopwell Youth Club site) and an application to British Cycling for some additional funding.

To ensure the project keeps moving forward the council have agreed to fund this next stage, which is organising a variety of technical surveys and consultancy assessments of the site. Their results will be used to assess what the best development options are, inform the eventual design, and how to gain any necessary planning approvals.

The council have also appointed an architectural design service who have produced some concept designs for the potential new community centre. At the meeting we discussed these designs in depth and gave our feedback about what we liked and what we didn’t like in regards to the proposed layout and facility provision for our community’s needs.

The council will also be meeting with the other joint partners in this project over the next few weeks to discuss their thoughts.

We will continue to keep you informed as and when we have any new information available to us.

Summer is closer than you think! Pop these dates in your diary for some fabulous community fun.

Thanks to all who came and joined our Christmas Capers event, or who dropped off their Reverse Advent Calendar Foodbank donations. We had a lot of fun.

You can still donate to St Albans and District Foodbank by:
Text to 70085 using STAFBXMAS 10   (or replace 10 with how much money you would like to donate)
Online: https://www.wonderful.org/charity/stalbansanddistrictfoodbank

Well, it’s been a while since we gave you an update on the community centre project, but we are still being held to strict confidentiality.

We’ve still been meeting with the council on a monthly basis, although December’s meeting did have to be cancelled due to the general election.

What we can tell you is that the project is still moving forward very positively. Earlier this month, the council held a cabinet meeting and the ‘Redevelopment and extension of the Marlborough Pavilion’ was included in the Cabinet Work Programme for 2020, which was unanimously accepted.

Our meetings are due to reconvene in January and we will begin working with a new council officer (yet to be announced) as Richard Shwe (Deputy Chief Exec-Commercial & Development) has left the council.

We’re looking forward to continuing to move the project forward in 2020 and being able to tell you about it too!

But, for now, we’d just like to thank you all for your continued support throughout 2019.

And we’d just like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Join us for some festive merriment at the Marlborough Pavilion on Monday 23rd.
Make a Christmas cracker, have a sing-song, drop off your reverse advent calendar Foodbank donations.

Join us and support your local pubs and community at the White Lion’s Christmas Quiz. All profits to the hub! And look at this fabulous prize hamper.