Our village is extraordinarily fortunate to have the Reading Room as an asset and a public building that can be put to a wide variety of uses. It is solidly built, in good order and well located in the immediate proximity of the pub and the church. Many other villages of our size must be envious of a facility of this size and versatility.
The Reading Room Committee has been considering whether some changes could be made to the Reading Room to optimise its use and to better manage the storage of tables and chairs and other items such as stage equipment, as well as improving access arrangements between the upper floor and the lower floor. With the very considerable help of Kevin Shotter, an architect resident in the village, we have started a project to see what changes and improvements could be made and how they might benefit not only those who use the Reading Room regularly, but also the entire village.
We have established with certainty the extent of the legal title of the Reading Room and our ownership of what is sometimes called “The Pound”, that is the ground between the South East elevation of the Reading Room and the wall of the pub toilets. We are asking the questions “what do we want” and “what is achievable” in practical planning and construction terms. When we have some answers, and undoubtedly there will be a range of answers, we can then start to see whether the changes we have settled upon can be funded. Depending upon available funding, we may have to rein in some of our ambitions, but that comes later. Despite Covid -19 there are still funding opportunities out there. Within our Committee we have the skills to seek out those funds. This will not be a quick project, nor does it need to be. It is more important that we establish the best way forward for the village.
Our first plans, as displayed last year, were drawn on the basis of the maximum possible footprint of the extension within the legal title boundary lines. Following discussions with South Hams planning department, some changes have been made to the overall size and likely external appearance, and to readily obtain planning permission there may be limited scope for changes to the footprint of the extension as shown in these latest plans. We have also had preliminary discussions with Punch Taverns (who own the Dolphin Inn).
Here are the current versions of the proposed plans:
For the detailed plans click:- Ground Floor :- First Floor
This is the opportunity for users of the Reading Room to review the proposed internal layout as we want to achieve the best outcomes for a wide variety of users.
Please let us know if you support these plans, or if you have any comments, by email to kingstonrrtreasurer@gmail.com, leave a note on the plans in the Reading Room, or with one of the Reading Room Maintenance Committee members.
In December 2020 we put the proposals on the KPC website and asked you to attach Post It notes with your comments upon the displays on the boards in the Reading Room. We shall do that again for this stage to make sure that we have captured your supporting and feedback comments. We are providing drawings in digital form through the Reading Room’s Facebook page and on the Parish Council website, Reading Room pages. We shall seek your comments in this way as well. Finally, there may be some who would like to provide lengthier responses than can be squeezed on to a Post It note. These responses can be sent by email to the Reading Room Management Committee Treasurer on kingstonrrtreasurer@gmail.com
Your Committee looks forward to receiving your feedback for this exciting new project.
With thanks to 
for the design drawings.