Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust (RBPT) has confirmed that its application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for development funding towards The Old Grammar in Richmond has not been successful.
The Heritage Fund's feedback centred on the size of the grant requested rather than on the merits of the project. The Fund identified a number of strengths in the proposal, including the range of community uses planned for the building, the alternative it offered for Richmond's library, and the research and learning partnership with Teesside University.
The Trust will now review the scale and cost of the scheme with the aim of developing a revised proposal that can be delivered at a significantly lower level of grant. RBPT is working with North Yorkshire Council on the arrangements that would allow it to bring a further application forward.
More than 2,000 local people took part in the consultation that shaped the plans, and more than 1,000 students at Richmond School and Sixth Form College contributed ideas. That work, together with the condition survey and the designs developed alongside it, remains valuable and will inform whatever comes next.
The Old Grammar has stood largely empty since Richmond Lower School closed in 2011 and its condition continues to decline. RBPT's work at The Station continues unaffected.
Gemma Lord, Chief Executive of Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust, said:
"We are disappointed, and I know a lot of people in Richmond will be. But the feedback tells us something important. The Heritage Fund did not tell us the idea was wrong. They told us we asked for too much money. They picked out the community uses, the library and the Teesside University partnership as real strengths, and those are the things this town told us it wanted. So our job now is to design something smaller and more affordable that still delivers them. I want to thank everyone who gave their time to this, and to say plainly that we have not given up on The Old Grammar."
Bryan Johnston, Chair of Trustees, said:
"Trustees have looked hard at the feedback. The costs we put forward were higher than the funding available, and that is ours to rectify. The Trust took several years to get the Station to where we are now and those with a vision had more than one setback. We will approach this the same way; take the feedback seriously, do the work, and come back with a better proposition."
ENDS
For further information please contact Sophie Grufferty, Marketing Manager, at Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust on 01748 828259 or sophiegrufferty@rbptrust.co.uk.