Designs for the Newington Community Hub and Thanet council’s Broad Street property in Ramsgate will be on public display this month.
The projects are both part of Ramsgate’s £19.8m Levelling Up Fund and the £2.7m Future High Street Fund regeneration programmes.
The Newington Community Hub will provide improved facilities with an extension to house a larger kitchen and a community garden. The new kitchen will allow the Newington Community Association to expand its popular food and cookery programme.
There will also be new double glazed windows, upgrades to electric fittings and thermal upgrades such as new internal roof and wall insulation, a new sustainable heating system and ventilation improvements.
The new, single storey teaching kitchen is designed to host up to 24 children or 16 adults at any one time. During fair weather activity will spill into the courtyard garden.
The training kitchen and space for people seeking job and training opportunities will be headed up by community chef Mike Spackman who works with Newington Community Association to share food, cooking and health skills with residents.
The centre runs a food club and in the first year of the covid pandemic the Newington Community Food Club (Starlings Support CIC) supported more than 1,600 households across Thanet with free and low-cost food. The club is part of the Newington Big Local community project.
The 5a Broad Street property – the former haberdashery shop- will be refurbished to provide workspace in Ramsgate town centre that is tailored for creative and third sector businesses. The facility will also be home to a new skills and careers hub.
A public exhibition of the designs for both projects will take place at Arch 6, Military Road, Ramsgate CT11 9LG on:
Tuesday 28 May, 2pm to 7pm
Thursday 30 May, 9am to 12pm
There will be a number of boards on display showing the designs. The council’s Levelling Up project management team will be there on both days of the exhibition to answer questions.
This latest exhibition follows a public event held at the Crane Shed, Ramsgate Harbour in July 2023, where people viewed proposals and gave their feedback on the designs for a number of projects taking place under the Levelling Up Fund.
The early design for Newington Community Centre showed an expansion to create a new kitchen, kitchen garden, lunch yard, glazed walkway, new entrances, an orchard area, polytunnel and pizza oven space.
The feedback provided has helped to shape a planning application for the Newington Community Hub, which has now been submitted.
The application can be viewed, and feedback given, on the council’s Planning Portal using reference: F/TH/24/0435. The closing date to register feedback is Thursday 30 May.
Planning permission was granted for the 5a Broad Street project in November 2023 with works expected to start later this year.
Local contractors are also invited to the public exhibition, to find out more about the upcoming construction opportunities on these, and other projects. Contractors who are interested should register on the dedicated London Construction Programme (LCP) Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) procurement portal, where tenders will be advertised from July 2024.
Cllr Rick Everitt, Leader of Thanet District Council, said: “We are determined that the Levelling Up programme will make a significant contribution to the town of Ramsgate, its residents, and the wider local community. I am very pleased that the Newington Community Hub has now progressed to the planning stage, following the successful application for Broad Street.
“I’m also pleased that soon we’ll be able to announce opportunities for suitable contractors to tender for projects. This provides an opportunity for local operators to tender for these projects and get involved.”
Project office
After the exhibition closes, the public are still invited to drop in to the Project Office on Military Road to find out more about the Ramsgate Levelling Up schemes. The office will be open every Tuesday (2pm – 4pm) and every Thursday (9am – 11am), and on the third Thursday of each month (4pm – 6pm).
Thanet District Council was awarded £19.8million for Ramsgate in October 2021, through the government’s Levelling Up Fund, and £2.7m in 2020, through the Future High Street Fund.
In addition to the Newington Community Hub and Broad Street projects, the Levelling Up funding is supporting projects to create a Green Port, Green Campus, a new town square in Ramsgate Harbour, new uses for heritage buildings, and a community hub in Ramsgate town centre.
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