Proposed refurbishment and extension of The Barrington Centre

The proposal to extend and refurbish the Barrington Centre Café is one of the projects from the Ferndown Town Centre Strategy, which the council confirms is being progressed by a partnership led jointly by Ferndown Town Council and East Dorset District Council. Pramacare, the current leaseholders of the centre are also involved in the project.

A steering group is in place, which is currently formulating detailed plans with a view to awarding the contract for the improvement works in March 2019.

Cllr Mike Parkes from Ferndown Town Council, said, “The Barrington Centre is at the heart of the community and as one of the occupants of the building, the town council can see the great potential of the site, which this project will help to bring forward.”

As well as extensions to the café, the proposals include relocating the toilets in Pennys Walk. This will help begin the process of opening up the paved area to improve its overall look and feel and enable more community activities to take place there.

Cllr Mike Dyer, portfolio holder for economy, East Dorset District Council, explained: “The improvements to the Barrington Centre are the first step in delivering the many improvements outlined in the Town Centre Strategy and we are hopeful that this will be a catalyst for the future. The public were hugely supportive of the strategy, when we carried out consultation on the proposals, and we need to make some visible progress.”

Pramacare, current leaseholders and operators of the Barrington Centre, have welcomed the proposals and are keen to work with the councils in order that activities are not disrupted when building works commence. These are expected to begin sometime during 2019.

Steve Robinson, chief executive of Pramacare, added, “We love the Barrington and, after a successful year, Prama is excited to be involved in this project, which will directly benefit so many across Ferndown. We are delighted to have been invited to build on the existing strong partnerships forged when the centre faced closure in 2017, and to work with the councils to see these proposed improvements come to life.”

The public will have the opportunity to view the proposals, either online or at The Barrington Centre, this summer.