Hereford riverside building step closer to £1.56 million revamp

Friends of Castle Green (FoCG) has asked Herefordshire Council if it can have planning permission to transform the historic Pavilion building.

While respecting its Georgian heritage, the plans submitted by the community interest company aim to create a modern, accessible space and iconic visitor attraction in the heart of the city.

The Castle Green Pavilion revamp, if approved, will go-ahead thanks to Government funding for various projects in the city. Picture: Friends of Castle Green

If Herefordshire Council gives plans the green light, the revitalised building will provide cafe facilities and flexible community meeting space, as well as the opportunity to celebrate local arts and heritage and a revived home for the Hereford Youth Canoe Centre.

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"The once forgotten pavilion will become a new and much needed thriving and sustainable community hub, a defining visitor attraction in the city and a source of pride for residents," a spokesperson for the group said.

The project has been made possible thanks to a successful £22.4million funding bid for Hereford via the Stronger Towns Fund.

Friends of Castle Green has asked Herefordshire Council for planning permission for the pavilion

The pavilion project is one of 14 projects elected for funding and the group has submitted a planning application for the £1.56 million regeneration of the historic building on the banks of the river Wye.

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Paddy Nugent, chair of FoCG, said: “We are incredibly excited to have reached the stage of applying for planning permission to restore and regenerate the Pavilion.

"As a group, we have worked very hard to reach this stage and it is testament to the trust invested in us by the local community to look after the building that we are now able to achieve what we set out to do more than ten years ago.

"There is still a long road ahead of us, but this is a massive milestone in the regeneration of the Pavilion as a sustainable community asset.

"We are grateful to Hereford Towns Fund Board (#StrongerHereford) for their support of our bid to be part of a wider project to make Hereford a greener and fairer city.”

The Castle Green pavilion, on the banks of the river Wye in Hereford, was transferred to the community group in 2018. Picture: Friends of Castle Green

Local architect Oliver Steels, of Errand Studio, has been working closely with the FoCG board of directors to develop drawings of the proposed works to the building, incorporating the desires and ideas of the local community as a result of extensive public consultation.

The project is a culmination of more than 10 years work by FoCG, a volunteer-led organisation which it said is committed to enhancing and protecting the Castle Green area of Hereford for future generations.

It took over the pavilion building on a Community Asset Transfer from Herefordshire Council on a 25-year lease in 2018 with the aim of restoring the pavilion to reflect its historic past and re-create it for use as a sustainable community asset.