The Village Shop Project - Overview

It is proposed that the Community Shop and Café be constructed on a site adjacent to the existing Millennium Hall which offers convenient access to all residents.  The site is owned by the Seavington Playing Field Association which operates both playing field and Millenium Hall. The Trustess are supporting the project and, in due course, the land involved will be leased to the Shop Association.

The internal layout will allow the Café to be securely separated from the shop to allow use by small clubs and societies when it is not open. Both shop and Café will be light and airy to provide an attractive environment. Design is by a local architect who has been instructed to be sympathetic to the local environment.

The building will be constructed so as to be as environmentally friendly as possible with a low carbon footprint. Current expectations are that heating will be provided by a ground source heat pump and some electricity generated by photo-voltaic roof tiles.

The Seavington Community Shop and Services Association Ltd has been registered with the Financial Services Authority as an Industrial Provident Society and is being run on model rules produced by the Village Retail Services Association.

The cost of the project will be of the order of £300,000 and it is hoped that a substantial part of this sum will be obtained through grants. The remainder of the funding will be raised locally through fund raising events and short-term loans from members of the community.

The project has the full support of the South Somerset District Council and the Seavington Parish Council who, together with the Somerset Rural Renaissance Project have already contributed to the costs of design, site investigations and application for planning and technical approvals.

Throughout 2007 the Shop Association will actively be engaged in fund raising and the multidude of detailed design activities.