Q – Why do we need another Community Centre
A. – The current laws around safeguarding of children does not allow the use of shared buildings whilst the school is open. The school is also very oversubscribed (even without the new development of houses) and they would like to be able to take over the building completely. They would pay back the money paid by the community to allow us to put towards a new building.
Q. Why can’t you build a separate building on the same site as the current.
A. We don’t own the land on which the school and current community centre stands therefore are not able to alter the footprint of the building
The new Parish Hall and Village Green will be owned and managed by the Parish.
Q – We paid for the current centre, why should we pay again
A – The current Centre was financed from a donation from the church when it sold the old tin shed and from a Public Works Loan taken out by the parish council. The current facility is unable to meet both current and future requirements. Although we have tried, lottery funding is not available for this project.
Q – Why can’t we give up the lease on the Centre and get the money for a new building
A – We can! This will give us a significant proportion of the money needed to finance the project
Q – What about sports like badminton that require a high building?
A – The school will allow us to rent their main hall outside of school hours, much as they do now.
Q – What facilities will the New Parish Hall have?
A. There will be 2 generous sized meeting rooms that can be opened up into 1 large space. Both these rooms have large opening doors that open directly onto a veranda with seating and the village green. There are beautiful views over open countryside beyond. There is a fully equipped professional quality kitchen, a large café area and separate male, female and accessible toilets.
Q – Is there an opportunity to expand the new build at some point in the future
A – The new building has been designed with flexibility in mind. It would be possible to expand in two directions. One extension could be 90 m2 while the other would be some 80 m2, giving an additional potential of 170 m2.
Q – This all sounds very expensive, how will it be funded
A – From the money that we will receive back from Herefordshire Council when we relinquish the lease on the shared rooms to the school, from an already agreed public works loan (a very low fixed interest and over a long term,) money already saved over the recent years, grants and donations. We may need to increase the amount of the loan as the costs of our build have increased in the years since our first consultation. The cost per household is minimal roughly £0.65p per week
Q – What happens if we don’t build a new community centre? Does the parish still get the land?
A – Yes the land is gifted but under the legal agreement it is for ‘use of the Community Facilities Land as a public open space and the site for a future community building or such other related and ancillary uses as may be subsequently approved’.
Herefordshire has advised that something will have to be built – whether it is a community centre or a bandstand – so building something is essential if the parish is going to benefit from this once in a generation chance
