PLANS are being drawn up to expand a Gaunless Valley community facility so that more activities can be held there.
Space is in short supply at the Pauline Charlton Pavilion, in Cockfield, so the village’s parish council has ambitious plans to more than double the size of one of the rooms.
The pavilion is home to at least two football matches a week, a weekly art class, monthly parish council meetings and a variety of other community activities.
Parish councillor Neville Singleton said: “We want it bigger for people to use, maybe for things like carpet bowls, because we haven’t got a large community centre.
“It will also be higher so people can play badminton or table tennis.”
The plan is to install bi-folding doors between the existing function room and the extension so that it can be used as two smaller rooms or as one large room.
Cllr Singleton explained that the idea to build the pavilion came about six years ago when the council sold off its old community centre and a village meeting at the Methodist church hall had decided the cash should be spent on improving the football field’s changing rooms.
He said: “We were lucky to get two grants, £50,000 from Pauline Charlton’s neighbourhood budget and £50,000 from Sport England. That building didn’t cost [the parish council] much at all.”
The pavilion was opened in 2014 and named after the late Pauline Charlton, who was county councillor for Cockfield and enjoyed a stint as Durham mayor.
Cllr Singleton said the council would use cash saved on the initial construction of the building to pay for the extension.
He added: “Hopefully we can do it with what we have got and then it is there for the future.
“We will find plenty to do with it.”
An architect’s design for the extension is expected to be delivered in the next few months after which a planning application will be lodged with Durham County Council, Cllr Singleton said.
In addition the council plans to use cash from county councillors Heather Smith and Stephen Hugill to improve the access road leading to the pavilion.
