Wigan borough community café and judo hub ‘rotting away’ to receive £211k rejuvenation

Wigan Council confirmed that the site, next to Lowton Junior and Infant School, has received match funding from Sport England to overhaul the rotting wooden building.

The cafe and dojo run by Lowton Community Hub Ltd, on Newton Road, also contains a wooden hut previously used by pensioners that is considered to be “uninhabitable” by an officer’s report.

It is hoped this money will be used as a benefit to the community in the area.

“The Lowton community facility currently consists of a brick building with plastic windows and flat felted roofs, apart from the community café area,” a report said.

“This roof to the café area is a severely damaged pitched asbestos roof. Additionally, a corridor connects the brick structure to smaller rooms including store rooms, male and female toilets and the dojo. All of these structures are built from wood with flat/slight pitched roofs that are rotten.

“A wooden hut previously used by pensioners is also considered uninhabitable. The updated project will demolish some of the existing building areas and be replaced with a new corridor which will lead to a new dojo area.

“The existing changing rooms and café area will be retained but refurbished and elements replaced where required.”

This is one of a series of community improvement schemes green lit by the council to make a lasting impact for residents. Projects totalling more than £880,000 will help to transform a host of facilities in the borough.

Golborne Library, Ashfield Park, Standish Mineral Line and the popular Golborne Bonc recreation area are among the other locations for development.

These all came after an survey undertaken by the council last year that attracted almost 5,000 responses and 11,000 comments on proposals for Standish, Lowton and Golborne.

Speaking about the projects as a whole last month, Coun Paul Prescott, cabinet portfolio holder for planning, environment and transport, said: “The allocation of these section 106 contributions has been a thorough process with important consultation with our residents in these areas. We’re delighted to reach this stage as these schemes will rejuvenate the local area and will create a lasting impact.”