Hermitage Village Website

The Future of the Village 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 original buildings in 1960 and opened the new hall in 1962. The buildings were modified and extended over the years to make 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.

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 10:30pm and runs at over 75% utilisation. The hall is the only community facility in Hermitage other than the school and the scout hut.

The Problem

The hall of 1962 was catering for a population of about 670. Since then, numerous developments including two major ones in recent years mean 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.

The hall is a hotchpotch of old inadequate Victorian buildings that have been added to and modified to make do. There are flat roofs, solid walls, poor insulation; the heating system is about 50 years old, noisy and inefficient. There is no damp course in the cottage, and the damp course in the main hall needs replacing and the floor buckles when it rains. This leads to a constant round of repairs and replacements. This year we have had to spend in excess of £10,000 on repairs.

The only rational approach to delivering a decent hall is to knock it down and replace it with something purpose built.

Doing that on the existing site is impractical because:

• The proximity of residential property around the current hall means any proposed expansion will meet with major and valid planning objections. We know this and have the scars to prove it: The planning restrictions on our use of the cottage and garden are testimony to this.
• There is no real scope for expansion. Where will we put the car park if the hall is bigger?
• We would have to shut down for at least a year with the loss of associated income and the likelihood that many of our customers would make permanent alternative arrangements
• The problem of access will add to the planning issues of any proposed expansion or redevelopment. 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 we have already 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.
• Funding will present major problems as we would be unable to utilise the value of the land on which the hall is currently located.

In short, any attempt to develop or expand the site as a village hall will raise objections, highlight and amplify its existing access vulnerabilities and present major funding problems.

What we propose

Fortunately, the concept of a larger replacement hall was made an integral part of the agreement between West Berkshire Council and Miller Homes, the developers of Forest Edge.

This agreement allocates £91,000 to the village hall on acceptance of the sports pitch near Forest Edge by West Berks Council, together with an area of land for the location of the hall and changing facilities. This represents the largest single opportunity for investment in recreational and community facilities in Hermitage for 50 years.

Following two village consultation exercises, the Village Hall Committee commissioned an architect to produce a plan for a new hall and changing rooms and parking. This plan is designed to be implemented in three stages.

• Stage 1 Changing Rooms
• Stage 2 Main Hall
• Stage 3 Additional Hall

Following completion of Stages 1 & 2, Stage 3 will be built when funds become available.

This means:
We can build a large, low energy, purpose built hall and changing rooms while still using the current hall, thus protecting our present customer base and associated income and future revenue streams.
We can use the equity of our existing site plus the developer contribution to minimise the debt burden.
We can fundraise to finance Stage 3 and pay off residual debt, by which time we can show we have land, planning permission and a track record of delivery so that applications for grant aided funding will be viewed more favourably.

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.

This is a major undertaking for the Village Hall Committee, and from time to time we will need to seek additional support.


John Lawler

Chairman, Hermitage Village Hall Committee

Click here if you have any questions or wish to comment on any aspect of this proposal