Penistone Area Partnership Scheme and E Learning Centre case study

The transformational Area Partnership Scheme and E Learning Centre projects in Penistone have helped improve the townscape and provide essential community facilities.

Penistone is situated eight miles west of Barnsley and 15 miles to the north east of Sheffield on the south side of the River Don. Penistone is a pleasant, long-established Pennine market town which today is an important shopping and service centre serving a large rural hinterland. The town includes a large conservation area, being approximately 18ha in area and contains a diverse mix of commercial, residential and civic buildings.

18 Market Street

Project history

In 2003 Yorkshire Forward’s Market Towns Initiative (MTI), a forerunner of the Renaissance Market Town’s (RMT) programme commissioned Spawforth Associates to produce the Pensitone Town Centre Regeneration Framework. The framework highlighted the poor condition and appearance of the town centre and key gateways into it and recommended the establishment of a shop front grant scheme to address the issue.

As a result of the framework recommendations the Pensitone Townscape Scheme was launched and ran from April 2004 to March 2005 and resulted in six buildings receiving funding for improvements. These improvements made a visible difference to the high street. Through this process it was identified that there was a need for a larger programme to bring numerous underused or derelict buildings back into productive use. 

Area Partnership Scheme

The Penistone Area Partnership Scheme (APS) was launched in October 2006 as a joint initiative between Yorkshire Forward, English Heritage and Barnsley Metropolitan Council (BMBC). Grants of 50% (and in exceptional circumstances, 75%) of the total eligible costs incurred in bringing the buildings back into productive use were offered. The 50% offered was split equally between Yorkshire Forward’s RMT programme and English Heritage. The scheme was managed by BMBC.

In preliminary work undertaken by BMBC twenty sites were identified together with wider public realm improvements as potential projects eligible for funding. The town’s National School was considered to be a pleasing building with an interesting history of social significance and was taken forwards as part of the APS. In addition to the APS a shop front improvement scheme, funded by the RMT programme was launched, aimed at projects not eligible for English Heritage funding.
In total six projects have been completed:
• 5 Market Street (a listed building) – window repairs, roof repairs and re-pointing, photos below shows before and after

• 11a Market Street – coordinated signage and shop front renovation, photo below shows the completed works

• 18 Market Street – coordinated building signage, stone and walling repairs, rainwater goods replacement, window repairs / replacements and decoration of building, photo of the whole building at the top of page, photo below shows detailing.

• 7 St Mary’s – total repair and renovation scheme. A new business will be created shortly. Work is ongoing as shown in the photo below.

• Penistone Paramount – New windows to the main elevation and projection room, stonework repairs, render replacements, decoration and signage, photos below show before and after.

• The National School – see below.

APS case study - Female National School

Built in 1822 the Female National School in Pensitone has been transformed into a fantastic new facility for a local nursery with the help of an Area Partnership Scheme funded jointly by Yorkshire Forward and English Heritage. The building, part of a complex, now houses 2 playrooms, a kitchen, office and staffroom for the Busy Bees nursery.

School history

Thanks to a contribution of £400 from Pensitone born Joseph Camm, latterly of Beverley, the Female National School provided free schooling for girls. The building is a simple single storey stone building with a slate roof and pointed arched windows.

The school before its transformation

Falling into disrepair

The building was last occupied by a cycle hire company in 2008 and is part of a complex of buildings which are in community use. The National School building has pointed arched windows and these had been replaced with UPVC windows, which were out of character with the style of the building and detracted from its appearance. Generally, the building had suffered a long period of underuse and decay. Significant damp damage to both the roof structure and covering, and some structural displacement, all amounted to a building in terminal decline.

A target for funding

The National School was targeted for funding as it was a key building in the conservation area of cultural and historical merit to Pensitone. The building was obviously underutilised but had the potential for conversion and to be brought back into productive use. In addition the state of the building meant it was in danger of terminal decline and at risk of demolition if an intervention was not made.

Prior to the launch of the APS scheme a delivery plan was produced by BMBC to show how the scheme would work; this was a prerequisite for English Heritage funding. Once the APS scheme was launched conversations were held with the trustees of the school to highlight the opportunity to access funding. A tenant for the building was secured and the project was a collaboration between Yorkshire Forward, English Heritage, Surestart and BMBC.

The school transformed

Conservation repairs

As a condition of English Heritage funding the renovation and repair of the school had to be The transformational Area Partnership Scheme and E Learning Centre projects in Penistone have helped improve the townscape and provide essential community facilities. done to the best conservation practices and a specialist conservation Architect was hired.

Unforeseen delays

During the planning process there were some difficulties surrounding the transfer of land and this did cause delays, but the issue was resolved to the satisfaction of all involved.

In addition, due to the difficult economic climate, the preferred contractor went into administration shortly before they were due on site; this resulted in a re-tendering process which held up the scheme by several months. Once a new contractor was appointed work commenced quickly and the project was complete in November 2009 with the childcare provider Busy Bees taking up residence.

Funding sources

Yorkshire Forward’s RMT programme £51,000
English Heritage £48,951

Project delivery

2006
October - APS scheme launched
2007
January - Meeting between Penistone Town Council, the Penistone Community Partnership and Trustees to discuss restoring the School under the APS
June - Designs underway
July - Planning Application submitted
November - Planning approved
2008
February - Tender issued
March - Grant aid offer accepted by Trustees of School
November - Preferred contractor went into administration
2009
January - Legal issues resolved re transfer of land
January - Re-tender
March - Contractor appointed - Britcon
April - Work begins on site
November - Work completed and the tenant, Busy Bees moves in

Successes

• Originally identified during the preliminary work undertaken by BMBC to identify buildings in need of intervention, it is a credit all those involved that a prominent building has been brought back into productive use and has improved the townscape in Pensitone.
• Six schemes have been completed, all from the original list of 20 properties identified by BMBC.

Lessons Learnt

• Clawback provision in the transfer of land. The precise nature of the clawback trigger was in question and legal holdups relating to the lease delayed the project. These have now been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties and could not have been foreseen beforehand.
• Preferred contractor Lotus went into administration resulting in a re-tender which delayed the build. This was related to the wider economic climate and could not have been foreseen.
• It was not always easy to encourage property owners to apply for funding under the APS due to the requirement to match funding. However the schemes have made a difference to the town.
Penistone & District

E-Learning Centre

Built in 1966 Penistone Library was a cramped building with limited space for adequate ICT facilities. In 2005 an options appraisal was commissioned by Yorkshire Forward to look at ways in which the building’s energy footprint could be reduced. The building was not considered to be energy efficient as it has mostly single glazed windows and a coal fired boiler.

Following the appraisal and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s desire to adopt biomass heating in all new buildings and major refurbishments a biomass boiler was installed.

Centre refurbishment

This project carried out internal modifications to Penistone’s existing library building to establish an e-learning centre to be used for both independent learning and as a community classroom and meeting space. This project aimed to “overcome barriers to learning for the residents of Penistone & District by providing access to Information Communication Technology (I.C.T) and learning resources with the support of a facilitator.”

The capital refurbishment started in spring 2006 and was completed by summer 2006 at a total cost of £219,454. The refurbishment included the installation of computers, a reconfiguration of the existing side entrance to allow access to the Centre outside of the library opening hours, and disabled access improvements. During the refurbishment the library was closed, to ensure that local residents could access library and ICT services a mobile library bus was parked in Penistone for 2 days a week.

Learning facilitator

BMBC appointed a Learning Facilitator in summer 2006 who works closely with learning providers including Barnsley M.B.C’s Adult Learning Section, the Workers Educational Association (W.E.A), local schools and colleges including Penistone Grammar School which is a business and enterprise college. Now the centre is fully operational courses offered include Beginners ICT and Digital Photography.

Funding Sources

LEADER £25750
BMBC £5874
Yorkshire Forward £46000

Successes

• Provided Pensitone with a much-needed Eearning facility, whilst also updating the eisting library building to improve access.
• As part of BMBC’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and their policy of installing biomass boilers in all new build and refurbishment projects, the opportunity was taken to look at other ways of reducing the carbon footprint of the building.

Project delivery

2006
October - Library closes for building works
December - Community consultation to discuss curriculum
2007
February - Refurbishment works complete and open to the public
May - Biomass boiler installed

More about this success story
To find out more about the National School please contact:
Steve Avery
Barnsley MBC
Town Hall
Barnsley South Yorkshire
S70 2TA
01226 770770

For more information about the E-Learning Centre please contact:
Peter Schofield
Barnsley MBC
Town Hall
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2TA
01226 770770

Or contact:
Yorkshire Forward
2 Victoria Place
Victoria Square
Leeds
West Yorkshire