A NEW ‘community board’ is being created to help guarantee public access to the Winter Gardens is preserved after the building is transferred to Weston College.

As previously reported in the Mercury, Weston’s centrepiece building will next year be revamped as a law and professional services centre after North Somerset Council agreed a nominal £1 sale of the site to the college.

That is expected to unlock funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership to help finance the £15million development, which will house up to 700 students.

However, the council carried out no public consultation ahead of making the decision, and concerns were later raised about the potential impact on events traditionally staged at the venue.

College principal Dr Paul Phillips has told the Mercury he views public involvement as a key aspiration, and he believes the college will not only match past levels of community use, but ‘better it’.

And now, the council says that by November 2016 it expects to have created a ‘positive and pro-active’ cross-party community board to oversee such use.

The move has been welcomed from within the council.

Cllr Richard Nightingale said: “The Winter Gardens has been a significant financial burden for taxpayers for many years; it’s cost residents hundreds of thousands a year to operate and, being a historic building, needed a further substantial amount to preserve it.

“We now have a solution on the table that promises public access to the building, preservation of the ballroom frontage, and a large fund to undertake the preservation work without any cost to taxpayers.”

And Cllr Sarah Codling said “By being a part of this board, the council can make sure that everyone will still be able to enjoy using this iconic Weston building.

“As the college makes the necessary changes to the building to be fit for purpose as a modern learning environment of choice, every member of the community using it will also benefit.

“I believe we will see the Winter Gardens and its use evolve, not just to survive, but also to truly thrive.”