LOCAL CREATIVES TELL MP DUNCOMBE DRIVE, LEIGHTON BUZZARD BUILDING SHOULD BE KEPT FOR COMMUNITY
Alex Mayer MP has heard about ambitious plans from South Side Studios for the Duncombe Drive Day Centre site in the heart of Leighton Buzzard.
Duncombe Drive Day Centre in Leighton Buzzard is due to close this Spring, and South Side Studios proposes that the Day Centre building be transformed into a space for local residents and community organisations, rather than demolished or left vacant.
The proposal is a five-year “Meanwhile Use” Creative Hub that also provides health services. At its heart would be space for talented local people to work and connect – a recent survey conducted by South Side Studios revealed that over 70% of local creatives are actively seeking affordable workspace to grow their businesses.
The space has the potential to host community events and arts, innovative projects like a ‘Men in Sheds’, ‘Repair Café’, and ‘Library of Things’. They also have hopes to partner with independent Leighton Buzzard businesses on a café which would open onto gardens on the edge of the park.
Working in partnership with the local Primary Care Network, and a new organisation called Culture Co:LB, the centre will be designed so people can access health “Social Prescribing” from day one – connecting locals with community activities and arts which studies improve people’s health and wellbeing.
MP Alex Mayer said:
“Leighton Buzzard is buzzing with creative people, but there aren’t enough spaces for them to work, collaborate, and showcase their skills . . .”
Alongside these community spaces, the Care Home would be temporarily converted to provide 47 affordable homes to support local young professionals and key workers.
Fiona Garden, from South Side Studios CIC, said:
“The Duncombe Drive site presents a huge opportunity for the Town Centre – the Lowe Group proposal brings with it the potential for a vibrant creative hub where health & social prescribing are side by side with creative enterprise and the arts.
“Already well-served by site-specific parking & facilities, a creative health hub at the Westlands site could create a meaningful physical and social link from the ‘Land South’ to the High Street. Activating this and other vacant spaces in Leighton Buzzard could be the key to meeting the challenges faced by our high street – supporting and connecting business, arts, health, and community to find innovative approaches, to help local enterprises scale, and set the town apart as a lively creative destination.”
“South Side Studios is working alongside a host of other local business, arts, culture, heritage, and health organisations to form Culture Co:LB, a new organisation amplifying a unified voice to advocate for support and investment in the future of the Leighton Buzzard. It’s important to note too that this transformation would be a temporary one, allowing five years for Central Bedfordshire Council to progress its longer-term plans for the area.
“Through cross-party support and backing from the business and creative community, Leighton Buzzard could set an excellent bar for arts-led regeneration, attracting investment to support and diversify the inevitable growth of our Market town.”
Cllr Victoria Harvey added: “Leighton Buzzard town centre is desperately short of venues for a whole range of community activities, arts, heritage, Men in Sheds, Library of things, supporting children with Special Educational Needs, and activities for young people.
“It is such a waste as we have fantastic voluntary groups and very talented professional, musicians, film makers and artists in the town who could really help the whole town and make the High street vibrant and alive, but they have to travel out of Leighton Buzzard to other towns and villages to find the space for their activities”
The plan has now been submitted to the council for consideration with a decision on what happens next to the site due by the end the month.
