Why do we need a new hall?
Background
The current Village Hall was originally The Church School erected in 1841 for 120 children. It closed in 1913 when the County Council took over education of children and built a new school at the north end of the village. The old school building was managed for many years by the church as a village hall, until a number of energetic local residents purchased the buildings in 1962 and rebuilt the hall as we know it today.
In 1996 the Old School Cottage and associated garden was acquired for the community albeit with severe planning restrictions owing to the proximity of residential properties built after 1962. The Village Hall is owned and managed by Trustees and is used by various social, community and educational groups, including Pre-School, Horticultural Society, dancing classes, dog training classes, Youth Club and others. Unfortunately we were unable to accommodate Toddler Group owing to the need to run concurrently with Pre-School. The Hall is available from 8:00am to 10:30 and runs at over 75% utilisation. The hall is the only community facility in Hermitage other than the school and the scout hut.
So, what’s wrong with the hall?
The hall is too small.
In 1951 the population was 500, by 1971 it had grown to 840. The hall of 1962 was catering for a population of about 670. The census of 2001 records a population of 1154 in 444 houses. Since then two major developments have added another 300 houses, and together with numerous small developments the population of Hermitage can be estimated at approximately 2000. A hall built to cater for 670 cannot reasonably be expected to meet the demands of the current population. The current hall only has a single community area and this prevents the possibility of running groups concurrently. These issues threaten the sustainability of the current hall, and weaken its role as a community facility as residents are forced to seek alternatives elsewhere. Fortunately, the concept of a larger replacement hall is an integral part of the S106 agreement between WBDC and Miller Homes.
It is expensive to run
Parts of the current hall date back to 1841. There are flat roofs, limited insulation and the heating system is old, noisy and inefficient. The nature of the building makes it expensive to maintain with a constant round of repairs and replacements.
It is impossible to expand
The development of houses around the current hall means any proposed expansion meets with major objections. This has already resulted in major planning restrictions on our use of the garden next to the Old School Cottage.
It is very close to a busy road
The current hall is built onto the B4009. The level of traffic on this road has increased over the years, and the recent developments in hermitage have accelerated this increase. Access to and from the hall is directly onto this road, and in the last year we have had a vehicle crash into the front of the hall. This presents a serious hazard, particularly to children and parents attending Pre-School and other activities in the hall.
How will a new hall address these shortcomings?
To address these issues the Council has agreed the principle of building a new hall with indoor and outdoor sports and community facilities to accommodate the needs of Hermitage in 2009. This will replace the existing hall and the current hall site will be redeveloped for residential or commercial use. This will help WBDC meet its housing targets and improve road safety in the area of the existing hall
Our existing hall has a floor space of 286 square meters. The single community space has not increased in size since 1962, and prior to the new developments the hall was experiencing difficulties meeting demand.
Pro rating the size of the hall would require a floor space of 854 square meters. The proposed hall will have a floor space of only 545 square meters to bring it to a level of affordability. This provides two community areas including a badminton court, and will allow two groups to operate simultaneously. In addition, sports changing facilities are included to cater for the needs of those using the football pitch, and appropriate car parking facilities are planned.
The new hall will conform to the Hermitage Village Design Statement and will integrate well with its local surroundings. The hall will have modern levels of insulation and renewable energy sources which together with current construction techniques and materials will make the hall cheaper to run and maintain.
While the new hall will be at the end of the village, it is located close to the school and is less than 20 minutes walk from 90% of the village.
The improvement in capacity and reduction in running costs together with close proximity to the now established facilities of a sports pitch and play area means that the new hall will provide a sustainable community facility for Hermitage for many years to come.