A new future for the former Sports Centre

If you think you may be interested in applying for housing in the new development please read the update here

PLANNING APPLICATION has been approved

We’re delighted to be able to tell you that the Old Sports Centre project ‘s planning application was approved at Wiltshire Council's Southern Area Planning Committee meeting held on 8th December 2022. The project is supported by the community and the Parish Council, and will offer 13 dwellings in the local style. Six of these will be offered as ‘affordable housing’ and the freehold to these properties will be held by the Nadder Community Land Trust in perpetuity.  They will be managed by the housing association, White Horse.

Full steam ahead! The Former Sports Centre Project has moved to the planning stage…

Please do have a look at the details of the application here.

A planning meeting was held on 8th December 2022 when the Old Sports Centre proposal was considered.

…and the old centre has been demolished!

Before Wiltshire Council had a chance to approve the planning application to demolish the old sports centre the hand of Storm Eunice intervened. The roof was deemed unsafe and it was agreed to take the building down.

Progress to date

At our 2021 AGM, we discussed the progress we have made with Wiltshire Council to bring forward the site at Tisbury's old sports centre for a communiity-led housing development.

The site, which Wiltshire Council own, is currently overgrown and derelict.

The Tisbury & West Tisbury Neighbourhood Plan (made November 2019) allocates the former Sports Centre site to meet community needs, including community led housing and thanks to support from Wiltshire Council an opportunity has arisen to progress a community-led development of 50% affordable homes at the site, for which pre-development funding is available from the Community Housing Fund Revenue Programme 2021/22.

We now have a real opportunity to ensure that what our local community wants for this site shapes Wiltshire Council’s decision-making.

With community support, Wiltshire Council might sell homes on the site to Nadder Community Land Trust, who would own them in perpetuity on behalf of Tisbury’s community and make them available for rent to local people who need for assistance finding an affordable home.

As a community-led organisation formed entirely of volunteers, a key element of NCLT’s mission is to ensure that its efforts are firmly based on the needs and wishes of the local community. We therefore undertook a full community engagement exercise between August and October 2021 to establish the level of local support for the project, the community’s vision for the former Sports Centre site and its design priorities for the development.

Results of our second community consultation

The latest community engagement report with draft design proposals is now available to view.

Following an initial consultation early in 2021 on the community’s vision for the site of the former Sports Centre in Weaveland Road, Tisbury, Nadder Community Land Trust undertook an in-depth community consultation to establish the level of support for the proposed designs for the site’s redevelopment to provide a mix of 7 open market and 6 affordable homes.

The consultation ran between December 2021 and January 2022, when a total of 108 people viewed the plans and artists impressions of the proposed development on our website and completed an online survey. The plans were also presented to the community through an exhibition at the Parish Council’s offices in December, attended by 40 people.

Following the second consultation we took your views to the developer. A summary showing how they have been reflected in the develop’s final plan can be seen below.

Results of our first community consultation

We had a terrific response to our consultation, which ran between August and October 2021, with 238 responses (amounting to around 10% of Tisbury's population) taking part.

Most of these replies were completed online but we also were able to reach those less familiar with the online world with a street stall on the High Street on Saturday 9th October. We’re grateful to Ione Lacey and our local County Councillor Nick Errington for taking the trouble to organise this and give the entire community the opportunity to have its say.

There was overwhelming support for the use of the site for community-led affordable housing. In addition the survey reveals the things that are important to the community in the delivery of this project and the pitfalls to avoid. It's notable the number of responses that mentioned the importance of the provision of green spaces and that the trees on the site should remain.

Other notable comments pointed to:

• a strong preference for homes which offer enough space, with 66% of responses favouring homes which offer at least 2 bedrooms and 79% highlighting the importance of gardens

• high priority for homes which are zero-carbon and environmentally friendly

• a strong desire that homes should be ‘part of Tisbury’ and built to last, using materials and designs which blend in with the adjacent Wyndham Estate and the rest of the village.

• the need to carefully consider traffic, safety and the needs of St. John’s Primary School

Finally, many commented that homes should be genuinely affordable in perpetuity, for the benefit of future generations.

Please note that our project has no connection with the Station Works Site, where proposals for a speculative, for-profit development have been put forward by a private, Bournemouth-based company called "Tisbury Community Homes".