Potential for Community Hub at Newbury Racecourse

As Chairman of the Racecourse Residents' Association, it became clear that the development had grown into a sizeable community without a local space of its own. It seemed worth exploring whether the David Wilson Homes (DWH) marketing suite, which would become redundant once sales concluded, might be repurposed to help fill that gap. I approached DWH to discuss the idea, and they agreed in principle that the building could be used as a community hub — an option that hadn't previously been explored. They also offered to make the building and the land available free of charge for that purpose.

There is, of course, a good deal still to work through: the terms of any transfer or lease, ongoing running and maintenance costs, long-term governance, and change of use among them. There is also the more fundamental question of whether residents actually want a hub and what they would use it for. With that in mind, I have proposed that Greenham Parish Council survey the community, so that any next steps are based on genuine local need rather than assumption.