A LANDMARK Minehead building has been put up for sale again more than seven years after it was saved for the community.

The grade two listed old hospital, in The Avenue, has been a community hub since retired consulting engineer Bill Howard bought it in 2015.

It is home to the Gateway Events group, which was created by Mr Howard, a volunteer-run community radio station, and a community café, and has been a focus for Christmas activities and support for the people of war-torn Ukraine, and has four residential apartments.

Now, Mr Howard has decided ‘the time is right for a new vision to transform the site’.

Mr Howard said existing tenancies would be protected to the end of their term in May 2025, but after that it would be for the new owners to decide what should happen.

He said: “It is a fabulous building. It has so much potential. There is nowhere like it in that area of Somerset, it is absolutely unique.

“It is perfect for community activities, weddings, and that sort of use.”

However, Mr Howard said it was not cheap to maintain such a building and he had been subsidising it for years.

And he warned the future of the old hospital lay in the hands of local residents and groups.

Mr Howard said: “If the community is not prepared to support it and help out with its upkeep either through using it or helping to get grants, then they are going to lose it. It is tragic really. It is a beautiful building which has been badly mauled but it is recoverable.”

St Albans-based Mr Howard bought the property when it was put up for auction by the NHS with a guide price of £350,000.

Read more in this week's West Somerset Free Press