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:
Wigtown Works is the W&BCIs new project to redevelop the former Wigtown Motors site into a community led multi-trade business hub in Wigtown. We want this to be a profitable business that's focused on training young people and creating jobs in the heart of Wigtown.
We would love for you to complete the survey to hear your thoughts about the project
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 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.
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.
The intention of this fund is to increase the supply of affordable housing in the regions town centres and settlements by bringing empty properties back into use. The former Bank will include a one bedroom …
The Votes have been counted and the result was as follows: In Favour : 226 Against: 51 We now await the decision of the Scottish Government to see whether the overwhelming majority will enable us …
The Dumfries & Galloway Small Communities Housing Trust (DGSCHT) have advised us that 58 responses have been received so far in response to the online and paper survey. More responses would be welcome, so please …
The Scottish Government’s Scottish Land Fund has awarded Wigtown & Bladnoch Community Initiative stage one funding from the Scottish Land Fund. The money is for developing detailed proposals for the community to buy the former …
3b have submitted a new planning application of the Old Showfield, which is for the same number of houses as the previous application, and looks to be exactly the same. Full details of the application …
Just before Christmas we received official notification from the Scottish Ministers that they had decided that the community’s interest in the former Bank of Scotland branch in Wigtown should be entered into the Register of …
The Royal Burgh of Wigtown Community Council decided to make no submission in regard to 3b planning application at their meeting on Monday 8th Jan 2018. The deadline for public submissions has now passed. 16 …
3b Construction have submitted a formal application for planning permission at the Old Showfield. 3b Construction proposes to build 43 houses with associated roads, parking, landscaping, etc. Details of the application can be found on …
If you live in Wigtown & Bladnoch and support us, please sign the petition at the following venues: The Post Office, Scads, Machars Action, Beltie Books. The petition DOES NOT make a commitment to buy; …
Following the successful public meeting where future uses for the bank building were discussed, we are now developing a strategy to take forward the ideas and deliver the best resource we can for the community. …
