Stoke Ferry Village Hall meeting

MINUTES OF PUBLIC MEETING HELD AT STOKE FERRY VILLAGE HALL

HELD ON l3th JANUARY 2011 AT 6.3OPM

TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED BUILDING OF NEW VILLAGE HALL

Committee Present: Mrs. G Phillips (Treasurer)

Miss B Phillips (Secretary)

Mrs. P Sewell

Mrs. J Trollope

Mr. K Phillips

Mrs. G Boughen

Apologies Mrs. M Reeve (Chairman)

Mr. Cohn Bailey (Solicitor) Dawbarns

Plus 63 members of public

Mrs. Sewell opened the meeting by saying that in the absence of Mrs. Reeve she would Chair the meeting which had been called to discuss the proposed building of a new Village Hall in Furlong Road by Stoke Ferry Regeneration. A vote for and against, would be taken at the end of the meeting, the result of which would be passed onto the Charity Commission. Mrs. Sewell than asked if there were any questions.

Q1. Although copy of proposed plans was on view at the meeting it was asked what the new village hall comprised of?

Mrs. Sewell gave a brief description of size of building and what it would comprise of internally.

Q2. Why did Charity Commission have to be informed of vote and why would they have final say?

Miss Phillips explained that as the Village Hall was a Registered Charity the Commission is our Governing body and they have to be informed of everything that concerns the hail.

Q3. Why did we need a new Village Hall?

Mrs. Trollope answered this stating that in the very near future a new roof would be needed to replace the tin one we had at present, this would be expensive. She also explained the problems that we have with the existing sewage arrangements which were not adequate and the problems which occurred when users of the hall turned off the macerators which in turn flooded the hall.

Car parking was also a problem with parked vehicles on the road outside when there was a function on - it was surprising that an accident had not happened before now. The piece of land currently used for car parking was owned by the developers and would not be available to use indefinitely as this was part of the land that was to be redeveloped.

There was also the added worry that a child could very easily get out onto the road outside the main entrance door.

Q4. Did the Village Hall own the extension that Vion (formerly Grampian) had let us refurbish for a kitchen and toilets?

Mrs. Sewell explained that Grampian had let us have the building which we used as an extension on a 99 year lease at a fee of £1 per year. A cheque had been sent to Grampian but never cashed and nothing was ever confirmed in writing so therefore the new extension still belonged to Vion - the company who had taken over Grampian.

Q5. Would the developers still build a new hail if Vion were not willing to sell their part of the Hall?

The developers had said that they would still build a new hail the same size as we have now (which includes the extension) and they would knock down the part that was the old hail and brick up the archways on the Vion owned extension and leave it standing.

Q6. Would 30 car parking spaces be enough for the new hall or would homeowners on the new development find people using the new hail taking up the residents parking spaces?

It was thought by the Committee that 30 spaces was adequate and the new houses would have 2 parking spaces each allocated to them for residents use only.

Q7. Would the existing Committee still run the Village Hall or would there be new people running it, ie would the developers or Parish Council have a say in how it was run?

The Committee would remain the same and the hiring of the hall would be exactly as it is now.

Q8. Who paid the running costs of the Hall at present i.e., insurance and utility bills and would they be able to afford do so for the new hail.

The insurance and utility bills were paid for by fund raising events held in the hall e.g. bingos etc. and yes it was agreed by the Committee that the running costs could still be met.

Q9. Would the Village Hall have to close before the hand over of the new hall?

It was envisaged that the Village Hall would be shut for approx. 1 month when the hand over occurred but until the keys of the new hail were in the possession of the Committee no changes would take place. The hand over was estimated to be 10 months from start of build.

Mr. Ray Thompson then said that he proposed that the meeting support the Committee in going ahead with the offer of a new Village Hall. This was seconded by Mrs. A Brand.

A vote then took place with 62 for the proposal, none against and 1 person abstained.

Mrs. Sewell closed the meeting by thanking everyone for attending.

The meeting closed at 6.55pm

NOTE: The question was asked if planning permission had been granted for the building.

This was answered incorrectly as yes. The correct answer is that it has been passed at Parish

Council level but not at Borough Council level.

Bev Phillips