There was a bit of a gap between our March and our August meetings, with nothing much happening for a while - and then suddenly it was all systems go, with news of the acquisition of the site by developers St George, an exhibition of their intitial proposals in the former Sorting Office and a pre-planning consultation.
Since then we have made a presentation about TOPO to Kingstonfirst stakeholders and had several meetings (notes from our August 8th meeting are now published in Our Files at http://e-voice.org.uk/topo/files/view/committee-meetings/TOPO_Steering_Group_minutes,_8_Aug_2014.doc). We also had a couple of viewings of the main PO, conversations with the developers and with the new leader of Kingston Council, and informal meetings with a new business partnership, Sarah Wrigglesworth and Peter Gush, keen to manage a community venue very much along the lines that the TOPO consortium have been considering.
So, welcome to the TOPO consortium, Sarah and Peter, who will be working with the steering group and others in the consortium interested in running the TOPO space as an events/work /arts community space and cafe, to make a robust proposal and build up a business plan as details emerge. Sarah and Peter have met the steering group a couple of times and viewed the Old Post Office - and haven't been put off - so it looks as though we could be on track for Phase 2 if/when it happens.
The next significant event will be the planning application from St George, anticipated before the end of the year, and we will of course, keep all our supporters informed about that.