Craft store to sell land in bid to save building

The charity wants to stay at the current site to "enhance and protect" its connection to the local community

A children's craft store is planning to sell parts of both its car parks to property developers in order to fund "essential renovations" to the deteriorating warehouse.

Scrapstore House in St Werburghs, Bristol, takes re-usable waste from businesses and sells it cheaply in bulk to schools, playgroups and members of the public.

CEO Kate Fowler said the historic building needs a new roof, cladding and windows, all of which is expected to cost "well over £1m".

They are now in the process of putting together a planning proposal to build 12 two-bed townhouses on the undeveloped plots adjacent to the building.

Once planning permission is granted, the charity will look to sell the two sites to a property developer.

Children’s Scrapstore moved into its current headquarters more than 20 years ago, inhabiting a historic building that has served the area since the 19th Century.

However, its long history means the building desperately needs fresh investment.

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"We really want to stay here, so that’s our focus," said Ms Fowler.

"To make this a much more up-to-date building which is sustainable, more energy efficient, and more accessible.

“We looked into so many different options but the fact is, we’re an integral part of St Werburghs. We’re embedded in this community and we want to stay."

The charity is facing escalating maintenance costs, from leaking roofs to windows

The plots for sale are on either side of the building - in the main car park to the east, and an area next to the Ivy Pentecostal Church to the west.

However, Ms Fowler said the majority of spaces are currently taken up by staff, or nearby residents taking advantage of free parking for days at a time.

"We’ve worked out that if we put some parking controls in, we will actually have exactly the same number of spaces as we do now," she said.

"We are retaining 65% of our current car park capacity so we do not foresee this impacting visitors once measures are in place."