Renovations begin on building at 'heart of town'

Fencing has been installed around the Priory Centre and part of the car park as redevelopment works move into their next phase

Construction work has started to renovate a building that was losing £300,000 annually.

The Priory Centre is being renovated as part of a £15m investment to revamp the centre of St Neots, Cambridgeshire's largest market town.

The community space, built on a former brewery site in the 1980s, had been running at a commercial loss, said owners St Neots Town Council.

Together with Huntingdonshire District Council, it has led the project, which the authorities said "will give this much-loved venue a bold new future at the heart of the town."

The centre has a river and parklands to one side of the building and the historic Oast House that was once used as part of a brewery

A "comprehensive refurbishment" of the centre was proposed at a district council committee meeting in September.

This was to be delivered alongside the regeneration of the town's Market Square, funded by bodies including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Huntingdonshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and National Highways.

The plans for the Priory Centre aim to enhance community use, and encourage increased private hire, with facilities including a bar and cafe bistro and new town council offices.

The space was previously used by community groups and could be hired for conferences or weddings.

Andrew Korolev, project delivery manager with the town council, said the renovated centre could have its name changed and would likely be open for early autumn 2026.

"We believe the new Priory Centre will provide everything anyone in the town might need and we do hope people will spend a lot of time there," he said.

The Priory Centre will be reshaped into a dynamic hub where people come together, says the council

Liz Owen, founder of Access in St Neots, spent three years campaigning for a Changing Places accessible facility in the town.

She celebrated the installation of the accessible unisex toilet at Riverside Park car park last year and said it was "exciting" to hear a similar facility would be built into the new Priory Centre.

The facility is larger than a regular toilet and has equipment, including a changing bench and hoist, designed to support disabled people who need assistance.

Ms Owen said the town council had supported her cause to make the area more accessible and believed the new centre would be "absolutely amazing".