The Wigtown & Bladnoch Community Initiative is a company registered in Scotland, established in 2016 to further the achievement of sustainable development in Wigtown.
The company’s purposes are:
The initiative own and manage the former Bank of Scotland building in Wigtown.
After public meetings, and work with a range of groups and organisations in the area, run by W&BCI with expertise from Community Enterprise, the building was successfully converted into:
Affordable flats - upstairs into a family size affordable flat; and the back part of the ground floor into a fully accessible one bedroom affordable flat. These tenancies are for people with local connection;
Bunkhouse - convert the main "retail" area of the bank that opens off the square into a bunkhouse for visitors with an internet hub. Similar to the bunkhouse idea at the Barholm Arms in Creetown, affordable holiday accommodation for pilgrimage, walkers, cyclists and so on is lacking in Wigtown. And at busy times, there is just not enough holiday accommodation in the area. Offering maybe 6 bunkhouse beds means that more people can stay in the town, and shop and eat and drink at local businesses as they appreciate our wonderful town and the surrounding Machars countryside.
As part of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland's Radical Action Plan, it has been decided by Presbytery that Wigtown Church Hall has to be sold/disposed by the end of Dec 2023.
Wigtown and Bladnoch Community Initiative along with individual members of the Church congregation are keen to see the building retained for the benefit of the community of Wigtown and to develop its place as a central resource for residents and visitors alike. There have been several ideas already put forward for how the building could be used, and this project aims to acquire the building for the community and develop it into a sustainable community asset.
The Church Hall comprises a one storey purpose built church hall premises of brick and blockwork construction situated on the northside of Lochancroft Lane, near to the town centre. Internally, the premises comprises a traditional church hall and accommodates a large main hall, kitchen, private offices/rooms, storage areas and a series of toilet facilities. The flooring throughout is solid and overlaid in a combination of carpet, vinyl and wooden flooring dependent upon the location within the premises.
The W&BCI was initially established to look at the community ownership of the old showfield with the aim of creating affordable mixed housing. We have retained that overall aim despite not being able to progress the original plan and we are now looking at how we can deliver affordable and sustainable housing to provide for young people, families with young children and older residents that may wish to downsize but stay within Wigtown.
Over the next 6 months we will be aiming to secure initial feasibility funding to enable us to draw up a realistic project plan to take this forward.
