Suggestions & Responses

The following are suggestions and/or questions from the Open Village Meeting on 12 November and the considered responses of the Village Hall Working Group (VHWG) from their meeting on Friday 20 November 2009:

Suggestion: A separate coat room is not conducive to security – the existing wall mounted facility is ideal security-wise, but needs expanding.  Perhaps the store room wall could be utilized for that? 

VHWG: Point accepted: the space released by eliminating the cloak room could be used to redesign the entrance - see response to the next suggestion.  The wall immediately to the right of the entrance as you come into the hall could be used for a row of coat hooks.

Suggestion: The front entrance is not as welcoming as it could be.  One thought would be to to incorporate the cloak room with the Men's WC thereby reducing the internal width of the latter to equal the Ladies WC.  This, of course, would mean losing the Cloak Room.

VHWG: A very good point. The Architect has now redesigned the front entrance without the cloak room so as to give a wider more attractive entrance (see below):

Suggestion: We need access for unloading cars and for wheelchair users near the hall entrance.

VHWG: Parking bays for the disabled and for unloading are planned to be marked out close to the front entrance.

Suggestion: It would be better to have one large lawn in the front rather than two separate lawns.

VHWG: The central path dividing the front lawn is a path that leads directly from the road to the front door.  This would be well used.

Suggestion: Storage – is it enough? 

VHWG: The storage currently shown is the same area as the total currently used for tables+chairs and clubs.  More is better but a larger hall costs more money.  To satisfy this point, the architect has come up with a scheme to have additional storage in the roof space above the storeroom with little extra cost (see below):

Suggestion: Do tables and chairs have to be dragged in and out of the storage room? Perhaps another small working party is needed to discuss storage?

VHWG:  A subcommittee is planned to consider things such as storage in more detail.  It is hoped that funds will allow new furniture to be bought that is lighter than that used currently and which will allow tables to be stacked flat on wheeled trolleys.

Suggestion: Shrubs are not needed at the front (and will be vandalized).

VHWG: Shrubs would enhance the appearance of the front: maybe less-easily vandalized shrubs could be planted (such as pyracantha?).

Suggestion: Could the access and the car park surface be made suitable for coaches?

VHWG: It was thought unwise to encourage heavy vehicles such as coaches to drive into the car park because of damage to the surfaces (particularly the paving surrounding the parking area).  Currently coaches park outside, in or near the lay-by and this seems to work without too many problems.

Suggestion: The corner of the store by the pavement – we have to be careful to design it with safety round the corner in mind.

VHWG: This is a good point that would need to be looked at carefully when the shop element is further developed.

Suggestion: Emergency access – the bottom end will need upgrading.

VHWG: Liaison with the emergency services will be necessary to ensure that they have good access to the playing field and play park area and this will be done in due course.

Suggestion: The village shop – would it be practical/desirable to initially build it into the main structure, even if it is used as a store or Committee Room to start with?  It would be difficult to justify it as a free standing item.

VHWG: Building the shop into the main structure would increase the cost of the initial build beyond the resources that would be available. It is also not yet clear that there is sufficient support from the Village to build a shop in this location.  A separate working group will look at the possibilities for a shop in due course.

Question: What is included in the landscaping costs?

VHWG: The costs of landscaping of roughly £100,000 (estimated by two landscaping experts in the Village) would allow the type of simple but elegant landscaping shown in the Artist’s drawing and the Site Layout & Landscaping shown at the meeting, with a front garden, (lake-free) parking, paved walkways and re-siting of the children’s play area.

Question: Is pub parking sufficient?

VHWG: The amount of car parking shown on the plan is approximately the same as now exists (around 35 spaces) and this is adequate for both hall and Pub usage. (Note: if the shop were to be built this would reduce parking by about four or five spaces).

Question: Could the height and appearance of the hall be adjusted to make it slightly more obvious as seen from the road?

VHWG: It was felt that the hall would be sufficiently visible from the road and the revised entry would make it more attractive.

Question: Could a path with a hard surface be made at the back of the hall to the play park area that was suitable for pushing children’s buggies.

VHWG: This is a good point that will be re-visited during the detailed landscaping stage.

Question: Is there a possibility of vandalism in the proposed play park if it is not visible from road?

VHWG:  The wish expressed by a number of parents was that, for various child safety reasons, the play park is best situated at the back of the hall out of site of the main road.  Although this might be considered to allow an opportunity for vandalism, this has not been found to be the case for other children’s equipment situated at the far end of the field in a situation much more out of view from the hall.

Suggestion: Perhaps the school should be involved in decisions?

VHWG: It was felt to be important to liaise with the school over the proposed new hall and its resources including, in particular, the use of  the sports facilities now that the school has little sports area left after recent developments on its playground.