PROPOSALS for major investment at Chagford’s Proper Job Resource Centre are to be unveiled to the community this month.

The charity wants to build a new two-storey facility to replace temporary buildings on the site, which has offered a unique recycling and reuse service for more than 20 years.

The community are invited to view the proposals at Endecott House in the centre of town on Monday, October 21 from 5.45pm to 7.45pm.

They have been drawn up by Chagford-based architects O’Brien Van der Steen Workshops Ltd.

The ideas are being presented to the community before planning permission is sought from Dartmoor National Park Authority and charitable funding to make the scheme a reality.

The building will replace shipping containers and other temporary buildings housing its current recycling and reuse service at the resource centre on the outskirts of town.

Funding will be sought from Power to Change, an independent community trust supporting community businesses, a community crowdfunding campaign and the National Lottery.

Proper Job CEO Alison Sallis said: ‘After over two decades of successful operation and gradual growth, the resource centre now needs to review the planning and efficiency of its accommodation as it is struggling to cope and is no longer fit for purpose.

‘A collection of temporary buildings have sprung up to respond to immediate demand as it has presented itself, many of which are now in a state of disrepair, without much of the fundamental infrastructure, such as mains water or sewage disposal, that are essential to its successful ongoing operation. The health and safety of staff and customers is a top priority, and has become of increasing concern with our growth.

‘In response to these concerns, the Proper Job trustees have determined that there now needs to be a strategic and holistic approach that consolidates our current offerings and builds on this growth; this involves refurbishing and replacing much of the site to allow for both current demand and our future growth.’

Proper Job started out as a community composting scheme in the early 1990s but evolved into a full scale reuse and recycling service. It was enthusiastically taken up by the community as the nearest recycling centres are a drive away in Okehampton and Newton Abbot, and items donated were ‘upcycled’ for sale on the site. Run by volunteers, it has more recently offered workshops teaching skills to repair and reinvent broken and discarded household appliances.

The charity has a shop in the centre of Chagford selling goods it has repaired, restored and upcycled alongside other good quality second-hand donations, as well as a café selling dishes made from local produce.

‘Our community got together and did it for ourselves with Proper Job,’ said Alison. ‘We have people around the UK coming to see what we do and how we do it.’

She said that the current plans for the Proper Job Resource Centre would ‘expand its offer’ to provide more educational opportunities and reusing more rubbish in innovative ways.

She stressed, though, that the plans would not mean Proper Job losing its distinctive character.

‘The atmosphere and ethos of the site is extremely important and Proper Job intends to retain its friendly, quirky and welcoming feel whilst making the site much more user-friendly for visitors and staff,’ she said.