FRODSHAM Foundation’s bold plan to re-develop the disused Goods Shed building at the town’s railway station failed to win lottery funding for five reasons.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has released details of why they rejected the scheme.
The five reasons are:
1. Project proposals were considered to be underdeveloped.
2. Submitted end value figures for the property were inconsistent across the application materials provided.
3. The £1m start value not evidenced with supporting documentation.
4. HLF’s Committee of the North West questioned whether commercial opportunities for the building had been fully explored and therefore whether the project was a good overall fit with the Heritage Enterprise programme.
5. The fabric of the building did not appear to be under any imminent threat (notwithstanding the potential threat of demolition by Cheshire West and Chester Council).
Frodsham Foundation has been offered a 25-year lease on the disused building by its owners, Cheshire West and Chester Council – subject to a condition that they secure funding to convert it for community and business use by April next year.
According to the Foundation, the main threat to the building is a desire by some councillors and local businesses to see it demolished to make way for a multi-storey car park.
They say they are disappointed at the HLF decision but are continuing to seek funding from other sources.
Why the Goods Shed scheme didn’t win lottery money
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So, clearly the bid was ill-prepared and not thought through properly. Flatten the damned thing, it’s bloody ugly anyway, and chuck a car park on it. It’s not just councillors and businesses that want a car park, I’m throwing my hat into the ring on that one too. The one thing we are most definitely short of in Frodsham is parking, this is evidenced in my street every day. We don’t need any more “community space” or whatever idiotic right-on term you want to give it, we’ve got a community centre, an arts centre, church halls and several green areas. We do not need another one that will need to be paid for by the local community long after any HLF funding would have run out. Get real, flatten it!!