Consultants advising on the restoration and remodelling of Blandford’s Grade 1 listed Corn Exchange and Town Hall in the Market Place say it should carry on doing what it is doing… but could do it a lot better.

Ingham Pinnock Associates has been appointed by Blandford Town Council to progress the long-running hopes and plans to carry out repairs and make the building better serve the community. The firm says there is no case for fundamental repurposing of the complex.

They say it plays an important role as a mid- range flexible venue, which will become more important with less retail and more leisure in the town centre.

Councillors met Ross Ingham and Kate Pinnock virtually in February, when they were told that representatives of Historic England and Dorset Council’s conservation team had been really positive and supportive of their ideas for a masterplan to be completed in phases. They described some of the research and consultation they had done to draw up options and presented initial sketches from architect Malcolm Simmonds.

An online survey had provided a good cross- section of age groups and of the amount of usage of the building, the majority visiting less than once a month.

They found indoor market was the biggest draw, together with events in the Corn Exchange, whose popularity was driven by accessibility and satisfaction levels.

“It should carry on with what it is doing, but do it a lot better, and needs to be sustainable and affordable for a wide range of users, as well as flexible, usable and still beautiful,” said Ross.

He and Kate outlined some of their plans to provide better access to the roof, improve the acoustics and staircase and install a lift to open up the town hall and council chamber on the first floor to new users. Questions were asked about the provision of a fully disabled toilet and making the stage accessible for the disabled, which the design team agreed to look at. They will be meeting councillors again next month.

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