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To purchase a suitable site near our Woody Bay Station site in North Devon and to rebuilt it as an accommodation base for our working volunteers on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway.
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Situation
The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway is a voluntary run railway project in North Devon. And one of the major problems for our members and volunteers to face is finding suitable accommodation when they come to work on the railway. A location has been identified that would make an idea hostel for our volunteer near our Woody Bay station site. It was place on the market for sale about two years’ ago, but it has since been removed from the market at the present time. We are lead to believe that the current owners may be open to an offer should the financial backing for this hostel project take off. The current building is in use as a bed and breakfast establishment. It is our view that the whole site will require a major rebuild due to the number of modifications that have taken place to the original building over the years. We would seek to retain and restore as much of the original station hotel building as is possible with the building of two new sympathetically designed additions to the building. This would allow us to house up to twenty twin self contained volunteer rooms, along with a full time warden. The project would mainly be on the self build basis by our members, except where any major structural work is required to be undertaken. The estimated cost is around the £2 Million pound mark for the complete project, of which £1million pound has been earmarked for the purchase of the site as it is now. The remaining amount will be used for the planning application costs, the rebuilding and conversion work and for the purchase of some fixtures and fittings in the finished project. In order to keep costs down we shall also be seeking sponsorship for any of the major items required to finish the project.