It’s time to take a breath and see where we are now and where we’re heading.
First, a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who responded to the Borders Council feedback request concerning our asset transfer. In the end, there were 50 responses, all of them very positive. It will be impossible for the council to ignore them.
September is going to be the crunch month: Borders Council consider our asset transfer request on 14 September, and we expect a response soon after. The Scottish Land Fund will assess our application for £50K to buy the building and gardens; our application to the RWE Bowbeat Windfarm Community Fund for £8,400 will be decided. This would pay for community engagement over 3 years so that we can keep everyone up to date with our plans and get feedback. The end of this month is also our deadline for a grant application to Historic Environment Scotland to pay for 40% of the cost of repairing the outside of the building. Once that application is in, we need to find the remaining 60% and that means more grant applications.
These repair costs are considerable: the pavilion needs a new roof (£200,000), extensive repairs to windows and external timbers and external doors plus re-painting. There is a sub-standard add-on built around 1900 which needs to be demolished and re-built, and drainage issues need to be addressed. We are looking at least £400,000 and probably considerably more. Funding will be challenging.
Talking of funding, a lot of people have said that they are keen to contribute. So, when we know for sure we will be offered the Wells and we know we have funds to buy it, we will start crowdfunding, hopefully in October. We have other community funding plans in the pipeline as well.
We’ve been talking to our MP, David Mundell and our MSP, Callum Kerr. They are both very supportive. We’ve invited then to The Wells to look round and hope to see them soon.
Talking of which, David Mundell in his weekly ‘Westminster View’ in the Southern Reporter has written about the Wells Group in glowing terms:
This was wholly unexpected, but wonderful to read. Thank you, David.
Finally, a question: we keep saying how unique The Wells is. Does anyone know of a comparable building in Scotland or indeed the UK?
Chris Gilmore