THE community project to help a much-loved village facility “rise from the ashes” after a devastating fire has taken its next big step forward.

The Dowlish Wake Pavilion Trust has announced that planning has been approved for its Project Phoenix rebuild after the group overcame some difficult obstacles.

The group has raised more than £32,000 to help rebuild the Archie Gooch Pavilion which was destroyed in a suspected arson attack last year.

The designs have now gone out to tender with the contractor set to be appointed by the end of April.

Mike Lane, chairman of the trust said: “I’d like to thank everyone who came and supported us at the Phoenix Ball.

“We all had a splendid evening, and £5,500 was raised for the appeal. The Shrubbery Hotel did us proud, and our band Soulville Express entertained us during the evening.

“I would like to say a special thank you to Andrew Perry for running the auction, and everyone who helped to make the evening such a great success, including all the individuals and local businesses who donated auction and raffle prizes. In particular I’d like to thank Judy Woods and Jan Whitehead for helping me organise the event.

“Also, we have received £5,000 from the Gooch Trust. It is specially towards our heating system.

“We expect the new pavilion to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix during the summer.”

However, the project’s progress has not been without problems.

Mario Ruiz, trustee in charge of the build, said: “We have had to move the building one metre forward due to unfounded concerns regarding the oak tree at the rear of the site.

“This exercise will cost us around £3,000 to £5,000 extra in redrawing the layout, moving the services and excavating new foundations for the front of the building.”

Mr Lane added: “We have been in negotiation with the planning officers, as they were worried about the roots of the adjacent oak tree affecting the foundations. We are happy to compromise so we can finally get moving with the build. But this change will incur extra costs, as the services will have to be moved, and a steeper level has to be dealt with.”

A spokesman for SSDC said: "We have worked closely with the parish to enable the works to be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"We did have to liaise with the designer to ensure that an important oak tree was preserved.

"The scheme was tweaked to ensure that the tree can remain whilst not having any negative impact upon the safety of the building in the future.”