Work in this financial year has concentrated on progressing the plans to bring the Goods Shed back into use. The Strategy Group, chaired by Dame Margaret Weston continued to meet and it is now planned that this major activity will result in the development of an arts and heritage exhibition space in the building.

One of the aims is to prepare it for use as the venue for celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 2006. As the leaseholder of the Goods Shed, the SPT is responsible for developing the plans for the future of the Shed, for sorting out the finances, for identifying those who will take on the running of the centre and for managing the building work. Theses activities are reviewed under the following headings:- Conversion Work, The Arts and Heritage Exhibition Centre and its Management and Finances. Some of the report covers work done beyond the end of the financial year, which is included to give an up to date review of progress.

Conversion Work

The SPT appointed Geoff Beckerleg as the architect to develop plans and gain the necessary planning and listed building consents in early 2004. Since then, the plans for the Goods Shed have grown in their scope and this has required several iterations of the plans and thanks must go to Geoff for revising the plans to meet the developing vision for the building. A sub-committee, whose members are Anne Mackintosh – Project Manager, Tim Harrison and Geoff Beckerleg meet at regular intervals to progress and agree the plans and to prepare for construction work. Planning permission was granted in January 2005 and listed building consent was granted subsequently. Access for those with disabilities is important, so the services of a consultant have been obtained. Several potential contractors have been approached and they have provided a guide to the cost of the work required and these were in agreement with our estimates for the cost of the work. In summer 2005, a full specification for the work was being drawn up in preparation for going out to tender. To meet the Brunel 200 deadline, work must begin in early 2006.

The plans are available at this AGM for review and discussion.

The Arts and Heritage Exhibition Centre and Its Management

Consultation on the concept of an arts and heritage use for the Brunel Goods Shed was undertaken through late 2004 and early 2005 and three areas of interest and expertise were explored:-

• The managers/owners of six local galleries and visual arts organisations were consulted – Rope Store Gallery, Stroud House Gallery, Subscription Rooms, Dyers Mill Gallery (now closed), The Museum in the Park and Stroudwater Textile Trust. Everyone saw a need for and welcomed a large town centre gallery space for high quality art and heritage work, particularly sculpture and textiles.

• Stroud Valleys Artspace declared an interest to be the managers of the building and became a key part of the future potential of the Goods Shed, agreeing to work in partnership with the SPT and advising on the conversion plans for the building. With the Stroud Valley Artspace refurbished workshops functioning, a large gallery would be even more in demand. It would develop the infrastructure for local artists and raise the prominence of Stroud as a centre for cultural events. SVA are an educational charity and have been very successful in their contribution to the developing arts scene in Stroud. It will be the largest exhibition space for a 30 mile radius around Stroud

• Stroud is historically a textile town with up to 200 textile mills in the Stroud Valleys. Only one still makes high quality woollen cloth, but there are a large number of textile artists working in Stroud. Local heritage groups were involved in the ideas for the Goods Shed. They wanted to show the continuum of textile heritage, the Arts and Crafts movement and the industrial history (and contemporary presence) in the Stroud Valleys and Gloucestershire.

Finances

The detail given here is up to date, as there is no point in discussing figures that are several months out of date.

The initial guess for the cost of the conversion work to bring the building into temporary use was approaching £50,000. Since then, the vision for the building has grown so that we are now developing an arts and heritage exhibition centre and therefore, the costs have also grown. We now estimate that the full cost of the work will be in the region of £350,000. The VAT payable on this work is potentially high, but we are hopeful that the works can be zero rated. VAT clearly has an important impact on the viability of the project and we are employing a specialist firm (BDO Stoy Hayward LLP) to work with the SPT in the negotiations with the VAT Office . There is optimism that this will not be chargeable. A large effort (mainly from Anne Mackintosh and Camilla Hale) has been devoted to raising the necessary funds. This effort has been rewarded and we now have approximately 50% of the estimated cost of the work. This is comprised of the following grants:

This gives a total of £144,000. The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) grants cover the cost of a project organiser and project administration. We are also eligible for an AHF loan to assist with the cash flow. The AHF require a guarantor (as the building will not be sold to raise money to repay the loan). The SDC has been asked to act in this capacity, but have not yet agreed to do so. A fund raising appeal had been launched to raise the balancing funds – approx £200,000. A large grant application is being drawn up for funds from the Marketing and Coastal Towns Initiative (MCTi). This is based on the economic benefits of the project to the area and is funded by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA). Thanks must also go to all those who are contributing to the project, it is taking a tremendous effort, particularly from Anne Mackintosh, Project Manager, Camilla Hale, Geoff Beckerleg and Tim Harrison and also those on the Strategy Group, particularly Dame Margaret Weston and Jim Cornell. Much progress has been made and provided the remaining funding is secured. then the project will move on to the building phase in the near future.

Finally, on a sad note, Richard Feildon, Architect, who helped get the trust off the ground in the early 1980′s was killed in a tragic accident last December. We record our respect for his work and contribution he made to the Stroud Preservation Trust.

Nigel Paterson

23-8-05

Board Members

Nigel Paterson – Chairman

Ian Mackintosh

Stephen Davis

Geoffrey Beckerleg

Tim Harrison