Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council sets price and deadline for Kingsclere community to purchase the building at 24 Swan Street

The threatened home of a popular dance school in Kingsclere is one step closer to being saved from redevelopment.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council agreed to sell the building at 24 Swan Street —which is the home of the accomplished JLD School of Dance as well several other local businesses — at a cabinet meeting on March 7.

A price of £525,000+VAT has now been set by the council, and the community interest group interested in purchasing it have until September 14 to reach that financial target.

Despite the mammoth fundraising task that lays in front of them, Kingsclere Performing Arts and Youth College (PAYC) is hopeful that the target can be reached.

Kingsclere PAYC trustee and JLD owner Hayley Crunden said: “I think we feel hope and that we also don’t have a choice.

“We just have to be hopeful and do our absolute best because if we do nothing then we won’t be able to potentially secure this building for the community. We just have to go for it.”

The group has already been in contact with Greenham Trust and the charitable organisation has been supportive of the project. It is hoped that the Trust will match any donations made, bringing the real-term fundraising total down to around £250,000+VAT.

Kingsclere PAYC has launched two fundraising initiatives to reach the total. The first is the Step Up For Swan Street festival that will take place at White Hill, just south of Kingsclere, on September 2.

The event will feature live music, DJ sets, a wellness tent, family fun activities and a wide range of food and drink. There will also be a silent auction on the day and during the lead up to the festival.

The second initiative Kingsclere PAYC have launched is the pledge 500 club. If 500 people donate £500, the group should have enough money – along with Greenham Trust match funding – to put in a successful bid and purchase the building at 24 Swan Street.

Ms Crunden continued: “I think asking for anyone to part with £500 right now is a big ask and I understand that £500 might not be accessible for everybody.

“If people can’t do that, then come to the festival, buy tickets, do the tombola, buy some drinks and have a great time because the festival is going to be incredible.”

If Kingsclere PAYC manage to purchase the building and bring it into community ownership, it hopes to develop the building to include a café, a youth activity centre, a library, a classroom and more.

The group want to publicise its mission as much as possible before September so that this future can be realised and the building at 24 Swan Street won’t be purchased by another company and re-developed into residential properties.

Ms Crunden added: “This is an imminent threat. It isn’t solved.

“This needs the whole community to come together, whether they care about the dance school, the building, the potential for the space or whether they just care about the parking and that fact that the businesses won’t have any parking.

“It will affect the whole village and it will be realised all too late when it’s gone, and suddenly everybody will wish they had done something. The time to act is now.”

To view the Kingsclere PAYC website and find out more about how you can support its cause, visit https://www.kingsclerepayc.co.uk/

Tickets for the Step Up For Swan Street festival are available to purchase now.