Popular Kingsclere building at risk of being sold to developers granted community status

The threatened home of a popular dance school in Kingsclere has been granted Asset of Community Value (ACV).

The building at 24 Swan Street – which is owned by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and is currently up for sale – was granted the status last month by the borough council and will remain on the register for the next five years.

The move means that the newly formed Kingsclere Performing Arts and Youth Centre, a community interest company, now has a moratorium period to get a bid together to put forward an offer to purchase the building.

It is currently listed online at £750,000.

Parish councillor Ian Bowes, who has been helping organise the response to the council’s decision to sell the property, said: “It’s definitely a good step forward.

“We’re now wanting to make sure Basingstoke and Deane treat us fairly and we can have good discussions now about the future and how we take forward saving the building so it can be used for performing arts and youth for the benefit of the community.

“We also need to make sure we protect and sort out the parking so we can have a long term solution for the community.”

The site currently provides much of the parking for that side of the village.

It has around 30 parking spaces, used by parents and villagers alike, and in 2017 was also designated as the parking for a new house and the Kingsclere Performing Arts College (KPAC) at 25 Swan Street following the conversion of the Catholic Church.

The decision by the borough council is not unexpected after council leader Ken Rhatigan said in a Kingsclere Parish Council meeting in October that he expected the application to be accepted.

Speaking last week, Mr Rhatigan said he was “delighted” the building had been approved for ACV status but said there would be discussions with other parties who would be interested in keeping it as is.

The borough council put the building – which homes the 200-pupil JLD School of Dance, Baughurst Blades and Eira’s Equestrian Supplies – up for sale after deciding the building wasn’t financially viable to keep.

The building has been running at a loss for 20 years and isn’t viewed as a long-term asset by the borough council.