UNCERTAINTY surrounds the ambitious project for a new sports pavilion at North Walls Rec. Last week the city council announced it was reviewing the scheme, saying the costs were getting too high. The city council issued a press release but within a couple of days it had been removed from the council website. The council said costs of the project has been increasing and it was now £100,000 over the available budget The Chronicle has tried to contact the community organisers based in the Hyde area. The Pavilion Project and AR Design are reported to be furious about the council s actions with solicitors being consulted.
The proposed new pavilion at North Walls Rec MAJOR plans to replace a pavilion in Winchester to create a sports and community hub will be reviewed as costs increase. In 2017, the city council s Winchester Town Forum planned for a basic £300,000 replacement of the cricket pavilion at North Walls Recreation Ground. However, an alternative innovative proposal was brought forward by the community group Pavilion Project and local architects, AR Design. The city council pledged additional support for the project earlier this year, with a total of £590,000 to add to community pledges of £160,000 and £50,000 from Sport England. However, all tenders received have exceeded the Pavilion Project’s cost estimate to build the proposed design by a significant margin and, even after reviewing options to reduce build costs, the overall project remains over £100,000 more than the available budget.