Manor plans put in a spin

PLANS to convert Bingham Manor House into a community centre could be threatened — by a businessman proposing to turn it into a launderette.

A community group — Friends of Bingham Manor House — wants to restore the derelict 17th Century building in the Market Place as a community centre.

A £1.8m bid for money from the Heritage Lottery Fund was turned down but the group is working on a resubmission.

In the meantime, businessman Mr Celestino Picciuto, of West Bridgford, is considering converting it into a launderette.

Mr Picciuto, who owns a chain of launderettes called Mainwise Ltd, is in negotiations with the building’s owner but has yet to apply for planning permission and the listed frontage would have to be preserved as part of that.

He said he had been quoted £500,000 to £600,000 to restore it, which doesn’t include the purchase price.

“Bingham is a growing town, so there is scope for doing it. It will encourage the growth of Bingham and give people somewhere to go,” Mr Picciuto said.

“We want to restore the building to the period it is. We wouldn’t put massive plate glass windows on it. We would want it to be in-keeping with the style of the building and back to its original state.”

Mr Picciuto, who owns launderettes in West Bridgford and Nottingham, said time was running out to save the building.

“The building is in need of some TLC, because at the rate it is going, there is going to be a substantial amount of money required to mend it.”

He believed it was a wise investment that he could pass on to his children.

“It would provide a valuable service to the area but if it wasn’t going to make a profit I wouldn’t do it,” he said.

The Friends of Bingham Manor House group was set up to halt the decay and bring the building back into use.

Mr Picciuto has no connection to the group but has discussed the launderette idea with its chairman, Mr Geoff Ashton.

“If we can’t get it, and if it respected the Manor House and restored as it should be looked at from the outside and if it restored all the original aspects of the Manor House, then at least it wouldn’t be derelict any more,” Mr Ashton said.

He said the friends group intended to continue to work towards restoring the grade two listed building until a deal came to fruition.