New PavilionThe Story So Far
The project in dates — planning, legal, funding and community milestones.
Want the whole story?
These are the headline milestones. The full record sets out every design stage, consultation and Parish Council decision from 1999 to 2026, with the document behind each one.
Read the full timeline- Legal
The Pavilion lease is granted
The Parish Council grants the Association a 25-year lease of the Pavilion — the arrangement under which WGS has maintained the building ever since.
- Planning
A first replacement scheme is consented
Planning permission for a replacement pavilion (ref. WR/00/01400/FUL) is granted but never implemented; it lapses in July 2005.
- Funding
A legacy for the pavilion
The Association receives a bequest from Pat Creighton Smith, given so that the pavilion could in future be properly maintained, developed or renewed. It is still held as a restricted fund for exactly that purpose.
- Community
Members are asked about the pavilion's future
A questionnaire goes to social club and sports club members on improving the 1973 pavilion. After weighing the options, the committee concludes a rebuild is the right course — endorsed at the 2014 AGM.
- Community
First drawings; the Parish Council is supportive
Options to extend or rebuild are drawn up and presented to the Parish Council, which is recorded as very supportive of the Association's vision.
- Planning
Siting agreed with Chichester District Council
A joint site meeting with CDC's planning officer, Parish Councillors and WGS sets the location and design parameters. A protected horse chestnut tree fixes the building's position.
- Design
Architects appointed
London architects naganjohnson are appointed and produce a new concept design.
- Planning
Unanimous Parish Council support
Full Council resolves unanimously to support the plans and to seek pre-application advice from Chichester District Council.
- Community
The Neighbourhood Plan referendum
The village votes 83.2% Yes to the Neighbourhood Plan, which identifies refurbishment or rebuilding of the pavilion as a necessity within the next few years.
- Funding
RunWisborough is founded
The first RunWisborough is run, organised by the charity with proceeds going to it. Now a chip-timed 10k and 5k with a Kids Colour Run, it draws over 600 runners and more than 200 children — a fixture of the village year, whose tenth was held in June 2026.
- Design
The sports bodies set the requirements
Sport England advises that the proposal meets its playing fields policy, and sets out what the Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board require of the changing accommodation. Those minimum standards drive the building's size and internal layout from this point on.
- Community
First public consultation
A joint public consultation in the Village Hall, advertised in Ad Vincula and by flyer to every household in the parish. 127 attend; of 67 who comment on the pavilion, 66 are supportive. The results are reported back to the village in the Parish Council newsletter.
- Planning
The Parish Council asks for a redesign
The design had been through pre-application with Chichester District Council, which raised nothing of principle against it and suggested the change that reshaped it. The Parish Council, which had supported the scheme unanimously in 2016, now changes position and withdraws its support, citing Neighbourhood Plan landscape policies. The project pauses while a new approach is agreed.
- Community
A joint working group is formed
Parish Councillors and WGS members form a working group to define what would be acceptable — starting with a building envelope on the Green.
- Legal
WGS becomes a charity
Wisborough Green Sports is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, charity number 1179541, and begins operating on 1 November 2018.
- Design
A new design inside the Council's envelope
A building envelope drawn up through the working group defines the permitted footprint, and the architects redesign the building within it — the origin of the consented scheme.
- Legal
The Pavilion lease transfers to the charity
The 1999 Pavilion lease is assigned from the Association's trustees to the new CIO.
- Community
Second public consultation
The revised design is exhibited over a two-day village event. 96 responses; 'about right' is the dominant answer on every key question. Full results are reported to every household in the Parish Council newsletter.
- Planning
The Council reviews the finances
The Parish Council examines WGS's finances, resolves the design is financially sustainable, and authorises a second pre-application to Chichester — submitted in the Council's own name.
- Community
Design progress reported to the village
Parish Council newsletters carry the amended plans to every household, and promise the whole village the chance to comment when an application is made.
- Funding
The Council contributes to design costs
Having resolved that the design is financially sustainable, the Parish Council contributes towards the architects' fees — the first of several financial commitments it makes to the project.
- Design
The design is refined with Chichester
Further design rounds with CDC reduce the building by around 80m², cut the bar and terrace, and integrate the glazing.
- Planning
The Council approves the design
The Parish Council approves the design and resolves to submit the planning application as the applicant.
- Community
The village is told the application is coming
A full page in Ad Vincula, delivered to every household in the parish, sets out the Green drainage works and the new pavilion beneath the architect's elevation, and reports that the planning application for the replacement building is about to be submitted.
- Planning
The planning application is submitted
Application WR/21/03019/FUL is submitted by the Parish Council, with eleven drawings, a Design and Access Statement, a Heritage Statement and ecological and arboricultural reports.
- Community
The submitted application is publicised to every household
Ad Vincula carries the news that the application has been submitted, with the architect’s elevation and an invitation to an open day at the Pavilion on Saturday 11 December. Parish Council Newsletter Issue 40, distributed inside Ad Vincula, also carries the application. Between them every household in the parish is told.
- Community
Open morning — the scheme on show as submitted
An open morning is held in the pavilion at the Parish Council's request, with the footprint of the new building marked out on the grass so residents can see its size and position for themselves. The statutory consultation runs alongside it.
- Planning
Sport England raises no objection
As statutory consultee on development affecting a playing field, Sport England confirms the proposal meets its policy and does not object, publishing supporting comments from the Football Foundation and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
- Planning
The Council supports the application in writing
The Parish Council writes formally in support: the project is identified as a need in the Neighbourhood Plan and the design has received substantial and majority community support.
- Planning
The water neutrality delay
The Sussex North water neutrality issue halts determination of planning applications across the district. The pavilion application waits nearly three years while a water strategy is agreed.
- Funding
Village events build the fund
RunWisborough, three days of Platinum Jubilee events and a golf day raise £18,000 for the New Pavilion fund in a single year.
- Planning
The conservation verdict
CDC's Conservation and Design officer concludes the proposals 'would enhance the character and appearance of the Wisborough Green Conservation Area and cause no harm' to nearby listed buildings.
- Planning
Planning permission granted
Chichester District Council grants permission for the new pavilion, 1,274 days after the application was submitted.
- Legal
The village green question is resolved
Counsel's opinion obtained by the Parish Council confirms a larger building on the Green is permissible for the better enjoyment of the Green. The Parish Council votes to support the pavilion.
- Funding
A fresh cost exercise
With permission in place and the village green question answered, work begins on a new construction cost estimate. Its figures will be published when complete.
- Community
Joint communication and information event
As resolved by the Parish Council: a joint communication to residents about the project, with an anonymous response option, and an information event with the footprint marked out on the Green.
- Planning
Commencement deadline
Work must begin by April 2028 under the terms of the planning permission.
Dates and details are drawn from the project's records — planning documents, Parish Council minutes and the charity's own archive. For the full record of how the village has been consulted, see Consultation & Engagement.