Langar cum Barnstone Parish Council

WHY WE MAY NEED A NEW VILLAGE HALL

The existing village hall (known locally as the Institute) was built by the villagers of Barnstone and Langar in the 1920’s, with substantial financial and materials support from Earles Cement Ltd. The building was bequeathed to a Board of Trustees which was to manage the property on the villager’s behalf.

At that time the building was quite adequate for its purpose. As the two villages grew in size the hall was extended to provide toilet and kitchen facilities. These extensions took up much of the available land that had been allocated to the hall, and with the development of Park Road immediately behind the hall, further expansion was unavailable. This has proved a problem in recent years, as car-parking facilities are extremely limited.

The Board of Trustees has for many years been composed of representatives from the various groups who use the hall regularly. Although much work has been accomplished by the various Boards of Trustees who have managed the hall, funds for maintenance and improvements have had to be generated from a number of fund raising activities and grants from the Parish Council. This has necessarily meant that only limited improvements to the hall have been able to be accomplished.

After over 80 years of continuous use the hall is now in need of serious refurbishment if it is to continue to serve the community. The most urgent action requires the construction of new men’s toilets, the construction of a disabled toilet, improvement of disabled access to the hall, improvements to the drainage and the complete re-wiring of the hall. Estimates for the cost of these works are in the region of £60,000. This still leaves a further amount of additional work to be done to bring the hall up to current standards, including insulation to make the hall more thermally efficient and eliminate the condensation that occurs, re-decoration of the interior, provision of an office for the Parish Clerk and improvements to the kitchen and to the external appearance of the hall. It is estimated that these works would cost a further £50,000 - £60,000 and would still not overcome the biggest drawback to the regular use of the hall; the lack of adequate parking facilities.

The parking problems and the archaic state of the hall have resulted in fewer local people and groups using the hall,  which has reduced the Trustees’ revenue. This reduction in income has meant less  money to pay for improvements. In a survey conducted in 2007 as part of the Parish Plan, 60% of respondents did not use the village hall. The main reasons for this were its bad location, the lack of parking facilities, the unattractiveness of the hall and nothing suitable going on there. There were a large number of suggestions regarding the activities that could be provided to attract people to use the village hall, but it was felt that the current hall would be unlikely to be a good venue for these activities unless a great deal of refurbishment work was undertaken.

In addition, the local scout group have also been operating in archaic accommodation, situated approximately 1 mile away from the current village hall. They have thriving groups of Scouts, Cubs and Beavers, whilst a similarly thriving group of Brownies meet in the village hall. The scout committee are also in the process of considering new premises to provide better facilities for the young people and to amalgamate the activities of the various groups into one centre.

Langar cum Barnstone Parish Council have, for some years now, been seeking an alternative location for the construction of a new village hall. Ideally this would have been sited between the two villages, which are located approximately half a mile apart. Although land was available, Town and Country Planning approval could not be obtained for development. Recently, however, a plot of land has become available, adjacent to the Lafarge cement works in Barnstone. Apart from space for a new village hall and associated parking facilities, there is room for a Community Youth Area which could be utilised by any local groups of young people. This would enable the building to be used for example by our  existing youth groups who are in dire need of better accommodation.. There is sufficient space on this land for sporting activities such as a football pitch, a tennis court, a jogging track and a multi-use games area as well as recreational facilities such as a skateboard park/ BMX course, play equipment and a youth shelter and there would be room in the new building to accommodate excellent changing facilities for indoor and outdoor sports activities.

The new facility would provide the community with:

•  A better village hall, larger in size than the existing to accommodate various community activities.
•  A separate function room for meetings and small group activities that is not currently available.
•  A Parish Clerk’s office and archive storage facilities, (not currently available), enabling parishioners to meet in surgeries with the Clerk or Parish Councillors.
•  A separate, improved scout hall with a small kitchen for the use of Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and Brownies.
•  A kitchen/servery and café area for parishioners to meet and chat informally that is not currently available.
•  Excellent changing facilities for both indoor and outdoor sporting activities and drama that are not currently available.
•  Improved toilet facilities for all users.
•  Space for sports and recreational facilities that is not currently available.
•  Adequate parking space for all users that is not currently available.
•  Proper disabled access, including access to the upstairs Community Youth Area.

The Parish Council would be most interested to hear parishioners views on this matter. If you would like to provide a comment please contact either Mrs Claire Pegg, our Parish Clerk, or any parish councillor. All contact details are on the back of all Parish Newsletters and on our Parish Website, www.theparishcouncil.org

Cllr. Andrew  Charlett.

When the Parish Plan was being developed the Parish Council was delighted with both the large attendance at the public meetings and also the response when a list went round asking for parishioners to put their names down as volunteers to actively help with their chosen areas of interest. It seemed that the Parish Plan had a good chance of actually making changes in our two villages, (as opposed to just talking about what we would like to see at the meetings).

Since those original meetings there has indeed been groups having their own meetings and various activities arranged but there is still a need to get other areas raised translated into action. The Parish Council cannot do this on its own, and in any case the concept of a Parish Plan is that it is ‘owned' by the parishioners not by the parish council, even though the council may have initiated the development of the plan and called the meetings about it.

So that was the long version!

The short version is that more volunteers are urgently needed to take several areas of the Plan forward.

Now is your chance to make things happen. The Parish Council will do all it can to facilitate your group. This is not an opportunity to have your say, (we've done that at the meetings), it is an opportunity to to get things done. Please come forward and offer your services. Rather than list here what needs doing for you to pick from, we are asking you to contact us personally and discuss what you feel you could offer. Between us we can then see if your knowledge, ideas and skills can be applied to one of the areas needing attention. We are unlikely to turn you down! You are of course perfectly at liberty to withdraw your offer if you do not feel able to tackle any of the tasks after having discussed them with us.

Your Parish Needs You!