Seventh newsletter – Temple Herdewyke Village Hall

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Another update from us

Since our last newsletter in July, things have gathered pace. As always, there’s been plenty going on behind the scenes, and we’re pleased to be able to share some exciting news: we’re preparing to submit the planning application for the hall and have chosen a builder!

Following a tender process, we received three bids from potential construction partners. Each organisation presented their bids to us, and provided lots of documentation about how they would build the hall. After scoring the bids, we awarded the contract in partnership with Burton Dassett Parish Council. You’ll have to look out for our next newsletter to learn more about who we’re working with…

A reminder on where we are

Stratford District Council received the S106 monies from Mulberry Homes, after a long delay, and this is now in the hands of the Parish Council.
The land transfer from Mulberry to Burton Dassett Parish Council is still being worked out, but we’ll update you on this as soon as we can.
We’ve awarded the contract for building the hall to one of the organisations who submitted a bid during our tender process. Subject to the land transfer and planning approval, we’ll be able to get started with the actual build early next year!

A large soil sampling drilling machine stands on the grass in front of some newly planted trees.

As mentioned in our last newsletter…

We had geographical and topographical surveys conducted on the village hall land, the results of which form part of our planning application. You’ll be pleased to hear that the soil survey confirmed it’s just clay under there - no nasties - like most of the Mulberry Homes back gardens!

Thank you to Aegis Architects

Can you believe it’s been a whole year since Issue 4 of this newsletter? In that issue, we told you that we’d appointed our architect, Paul Hurley of Aegis Consultancy Group.

From our early Facebook requests for help, Paul has been really engaged with us, attending most of our committee meetings and making alterations to drawings and designs. He has put hours of work into this project, and after a whole year working with him, we thought it was only fair to say a big thank you! Paul has been instrumental in getting us ready for the planning application, and we’re looking forward to working alongside him on the next steps.

Play park queries

The play equipment was installed over a year ago, organised by Mulberry Homes. Unfortunately it is still not open, and we’ve had no further information about the soil condition being improved or the safety testing. One of the yellow gates was removed by a grounds maintenance contractor and has not been refitted, and the bins were removed as they were not being emptied. Rest assured, as soon as we know more, we’ll let you know via our Facebook page!

In the meantime, you can continue to remind Mulberry that it would be nice for the children living in the village and attending the primary school to be able to use the equipment that has sat unused for so long: customercare@mulberryhomes.co.uk. Thank you to Burton Dassett Parish Council who are also pushing for answers on this.

Help us make the hall the best it can be

This time last year, some of our committee members met with others who look after local village halls. We were given some great tips and advice for building our hall from scratch, and now we’re closer to breaking ground, we’re looking ahead to what else is needed to make a village hall successful. If you have any guidance, experience or ideas for getting the hall up and running when the building is finished, please do get in touch!

Join the committee

We’re still on the look out for new committee members, as we are a small (but perfectly formed) unit of four at the moment. Find out more about who you’ll be working with on our Facebook page or by having a read of our previous newsletters. We’re all volunteers, and meet regularly on Tuesday evenings. Absolutely no experience is required.

If you want to know more about volunteering, drop us a line

Q: How do I get involved?

A: If you have a skill, business or interest that you think would be useful in contributing to the building or ongoing success of the hall, please get in touch. Donations of goods, services, skills or funds are gratefully received. Once the hall is built, we will also be looking for volunteers to help run events.

Q: How can I stay up-to-date with progress on the hall?

A: Sign up to receive our newsletter, like and follow the Facebook page ‘Temple Herdewyke Village Hall’ or email: thvillagehall@gmail.com.

Got a question about the hall?