A CHURCH owned building in Devizes, which was at the centre of a planning row, could now be turned into a community hub.

St James' church wants to buy part of an old school in Estcourt Street owned by the Diocesan Board of Education which last year had a project for flats on the site turned down.

Now the church is putting forward its own proposal and is to hold a public meeting on January 30 at 7.30pm at St James.

Vicar the Rev Keith Brindle said: "This week at church we shared our vision to turn part of St James’ old school site, off Estcourt Street, into a community hub. We hope the hub will become a vibrant community centre, known for the multi-agency support it provides groups, families and individuals.

"It is our intention to serve Devizes through the work of the hub. We are really keen to hear from our neighbours as to how they feel the community hub could help the flourishing of our local community, as well as hearing from any organisations and charities who are interested in being a part of provision available through the hub."

In response to questions about ownership of the building and future of the site Mr Brindle said: "We are having to buy the old youth centre from the Diocesan Board of Education. It was its plans to sell all the site with planning permission to convert to residential property that was turned down.

"At the same time as the board of education were submitting these plans we, St James', were in conversation with them about the possibility of buying the old youth centre and keeping it for community use.

"The DBE have agreed to this. That their original plans failed to get consent probably helped St James' in this regard. But it's worth remembering that the money the DBE make from the sale of the buildings goes to the schools they run - essentially Southbroom St James Academy and The Trinity."

Mr Brindle said the chance to open a hub was a once-in-a-generation opportunity. He said: "St James’ bucks the national trend. We are a growing, vibrant, active, multi-generational church.

"However, for these same reasons, we now find that our work, both in the church building and in the community, has outgrown and is being limited by the buildings we have. We now need more space for activities, space that is useable, flexible and easily accessible."

He said the hub would provide a multi-room venue and enable the church to move its office to the new site. CCTV would be used so the church could remain open to the public during the day and the former office would be used for storage.

He said new chairs and tables would allow the church itself to have a more flexible use so it could host social and community evening and café style church services.

He said: "The hub would also provide a variety of rooms for our children’s, youth and adult ministries. As much of the use of the hub by community organisations will be during working hours, the hub will be available for use by St James’ to deliver our evening and weekend activities. Furthermore, parking at the hub would be available to the church during evenings and weekends."

The future of the parish centre at the the back of the former vicarage would be reviewed at a later date and the Estcourt Room would be returned to the Diocese Board of Education and potentially be sold for homes.