The Public Consultation held in September was very successful.  Although precise numbers are not known I believe that approximately 50 people attended on day 1 and 60 people on day 2.  Representatives from Broadland District Council, Victory Housing, CAM architects and Lovell’s all stated that it was one of the most positive consultations that they had participated in both in respect of numbers and attitude towards the project.  As expected there were a few people who had legitimate concerns which we will address where we can.  Overall 34 people took the time to write their comments down.  Today the project group met to go through every comment and each person will shortly be receiving a reply explaining whether their suggestions can be incorporated into the plans and if not justifying why this is the case.  The majority of comments were positive but concerns were raised about the access to the site and drivers abusing Hall Walk by parking there rather than in the car park.

Since the Consultation the project group have met on 3 occasions in an attempt to get closer to finalising the design of the village hall.  We have spent time analysing the Mechanical & Engineering options for heating, ventilation and sustainable resources.  We have also met to discuss the various surveys that are necessary before we apply for planning consent and to assess the layout of the supporting amenities and housing in response to the survey outcomes and the comments that we’ve received from the public.
We are still aiming to apply for planning consent by the end of 2011 or January 2012 at the latest.  Pending approval we plan to begin building the housing by the summer of 2012 (to avoid the Governments’ Community Infrastructure Levy) and to begin building the village hall itself by early 2013, hopefully providing the Trustees with sufficient time to raise the additional funds required through grants and fundraising.  Safeguards will be in place through the provision of a Section 106 agreement to ensure that the housing is not finalised before the village hall is completed to our satisfaction.

A sub-committee has been established to drive forward the playground amenity.  Kerry and myself are on the sub committee however Lorraine Arthurton, Rachel Hurst, Anna Curson and Nicky Marshall are also members of the group.  It’s great to see new enthusiastic people getting involved with the project.  Moreover, Nicky’s son George and Kerry’s daughter Amber have also been asked to join the team to represent their age groups needs.  Prior to half term we launched a competition for the school children to visit their favourite playground and write a report about it.  Consulting the young people who will be using the amenity is an essential part of this project.

All updates are available on the website.  Please take a note of the website and add it to your favourites.  A Facebook page is also available as a link from the website.

We are planning on having a New’s Years Eve party at the Bridge Pub with a percentage of ticket sales going towards the village hall project.  Kerry is liaising with Clare from the Bridge with this event.  More details to follow.