THE organisation pioneering the campaign to rescue Richmond's old railway station has called an open meeting next week where the public will be asked to ratify a community buy-out.

Owner Richmondshire District Council has offered the old farm and garden supply centre on the banks of the River Swale to the Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust on a 999-year lease.

The authority is requesting a £10,000 down-payment and a further £52,500 from future operating profits to cover the market value of the building.

Subject to clarification on some of the small-print, the trust board has indicated it is willing to accept the deal.

However, anyone who has an opinion on the project is welcome at the town hall from 7.15pm on today (Thursday), when the trust hopes the community will give its verdict on the offer.

It will also be outlining its vision for the building, which could include a new cinema, a number of craft shops and workshops, a caf and restaurant, meeting rooms and auditorium, a micro-brewery and a visitor centre for the award-winning Swaledale Cheese Company, which is based on the town's Gallowfields Industrial Estate.

Trust chairman Jim Jack said: "In a sense, this is where the hard work really begins and it could be a long road.

"We're hoping to attract large-scale funders to the project which we believe will enhance opportunity and heritage access in our district. "However, we realise the only certain way of getting the project underway is to raise the capital needed ourselves."

So the trust will create a number of working groups to take the project forward.

One will concentrate on administration, two others on generating the necessary cash, either through sponsors or public fund-raising.

Events already planned in the station include a book fair on July 4 and a musical concert, for which a date has yet to be confirmed.

Another working group will focus on the building's heritage to ensure that, when the old station re-opens, the key role it has played in the town's affairs over the last 100 years is not forgotten.

Trust member Donald Cline is hoping for an increase in project activity after Easter.