PARISH councillors have pledged £1,000 to help a group of residents get their bid to convert Cotherstone’s former Methodist chapel into a cafe, shop and heritage centre off the ground.
The parish council has also agreed to give its backing to the ambitious £200,000 project.
The Cotherstone Old Chapel project was launched in response to the closure of the village shop last year.
To help get the scheme off the ground, they applied to Cotherstone Parish Council for cash to help cover a range of costs including registering as a community benefit society (CBS), a building survey of the chapel, producing a shares prospectus, printing costs and launching a website. At the annual parish council meeting, councillors were told the project group had worked closely with the Barnard Castle and Teesdale Methodist circuit, which had been supportive of the community venture.
However, members heard that the timescale was quite tight, with the aim of a lease on the building being signed by September.
The meeting was told a newsletter and response form had been circulated.
Cllr Richard Hunter said: “The key is going to be the response to the newsletter.”
The meeting was told early returns of the response form had been positive, with residents interested in joining one of several working groups. Cllr Jenny Watson was keen to point out that the shop, cafe and heritage centre should not “step on the toes” of other businesses in the village, such as the two pubs.
Members of the group assured Cllr Watson that the intention is to work in tandem with other businesses. The cafe would not have a commercial kitchen and would serve mainly snacks during the day.
The project group members told councillors they had staked their own money so far in getting to the stage of registering as a CBS.
Councillors were also told that if there was not enough support for the project, the group would simply stop.
In proposing a grant of £1,000, parish council chairman Cllr John Birkett said: “We all feel the village needs a shop.”
Members agreed to the grant once the project group had achieved CBS status.
They also agreed to issue a statement fully endorsing the old chapel project.
The project group will update parish councillors next month once the community response forms have been received.
