"Please don't knock down the place we call home"
Community groups emotional plea to Market Street developers
“PLEASE don’t knock down the place we call home.”
That was the emotional plea from a Newbury-based mental health charity which fears it will be made homeless as part of West Berkshire Council’s plans to redevelop Market Street.
Developers and the council want to turn the 5.5-acre site between Newbury railway station and Market Street into an ‘urban village’ and provide a new gateway to the town.
One of the buildings within the development area likely to be affected is the Friends Meeting House, Highfield Avenue, at the top of Mayor’s Lane behind the bus station.
The building is owned by Newbury Quakers Religious Society of Friends and is regularly used by 15 community groups and charities.
One of the clubs using the facilities is the Eight Bells for Mental Health charity.
Its co-ordinator, Kathryn Dundas, said: “It’s a very worrying time. The charity is thriving, but it feels like there’s a dark cloud on the horizon.
“The majority of members are very anxious about the possibility of losing the premises and are continually asking me where we would go.
“There is a big question mark over whether the charity will be able to continue without a home.
“The impact would be huge.
“I worry about our members. It is somewhere they are familiar and comfortable with. When you have a mental health condition, added anxiety and worry does not help one bit.
“West Berkshire is the third- lowest funded area in the country for mental health.
“There is very little support in the district for people with these issues as it is.”
In 2013, the council was criticised by property experts and residents for giving away land, worth £3.9m, to developers for nothing.
Opponents of the project said the land give-away was too high a price to pay for the latest instalment of Newbury Vision – the council’s over-arching development brief for the town.
Quakers have been worshipping in Newbury for some 350 years and have been in their current location since 1955 when they bought the Highfield Avenue house and garden.
Carolyn Fletcher, from Newbury Quakers, said: “The building is of huge value to ourselves, but we are much more concerned about the various groups that use it.
“A lot of the people in these groups are vulnerable and many of them to do not have access to cars.
“That is why this building is perfect as it is, right by the train station and bus station.”
Another group currently using the facilities at Highfield Avenue is the Quantum Violets meditation group, which aims to reduce people’s anxiety and stress.
Heidi Cussell, who runs the group with Diana Rowe, said: “Meeting House is unique, beautiful and tranquil.
“Without it we would have nowhere to go.”
Grainger plc is the company working with the council on the plans, and development director David Walters said: “We have met with the representatives of the Quakers on numerous occasions regarding the future of the Meeting House and it’s our intention that we reach a mutually agreeable arrangement.
“An alternative would be to provide the Quakers with a new Meeting House within the proposed development, or in close proximity of the site, that would perhaps better serve its members and local community groups for generations to come.
“None of these things are known considerations until we have a draft development plan.
“We would then be able to ascertain if its retention would jeopardise this regeneration project for Newbury and whether the Quakers would wish to be surrounded by such a development.”
Grainger says the development would be able to accommodate at least 200 homes, along with small units for commercial and retail uses.
It is planned that the existing bus interchange would also be cleared as part of the redevelopment and replaced by a new facility to the south of the library.
A formal planning application is yet to be submitted.
