VILLAGE HALL NEWS SHEET JANUARY 2010

Welcome to our second update on progress with the new Village Hall.
A lot has happened since the last update was written in November, not least clarifi cation on likely costs of a new hall and applications for external grant funding. So here’s where we are, what’s happened over the past couple of months and what’s planned.

Finance
Sale of Assets
• The village is lucky to have assets to sell to help pay for the new hall, both at the playing
field site and also existing Community Hall site.
• In December, we appointed Abbotts Estate Agents to act for us in selling the three sites.
They will go on the market in January.
• The issue of “not selling property in winter” has been raised and it is considered that, whilst the housing market is traditionally quiet in winter, likely buyers of these plots will still need to build, so the market is a very different one compared with selling a completed dwelling.
• Our advice is that there is likely to be a premium on the plots as, effectively, they provide
almost the last chance to build private housing in the village.

Grant Funding
• We have been investigating what sources of funding are available for the new Hall.
Whilst a number of smaller grant funds are available and now being applied for, the Big Lottery
Fund has not been available for some time for this type of building.
• Clearly, this has a fundamental effect on what size of building we will be able to afford
• We have also applied for a grant for all of the sustainable energy plant and expect to hear
in March if this has been successful.

The Cost of a New Hall
• The building originally drawn was always ambitious and, whilst we have planning approval for it, it is clear that this size of building without Big Lottery funding, is unaff ordable.
The Sub committee along with the Architects are currently re-working the accommodation
requirement with a view to reduce the size of the building without losing the key design features and the required facilities for the village.

Professional Advice
Clearly, for a project of this size, we need professional support and we largely have this now
arranged:
• Solicitors – specialist Parish Council – appointed December
• Accountants – to be appointed late January
• Architects – appointed December
• Project Manager – appointed December

Architects and Design
A2 Architects were appointed to the project in December, following consideration of a number
Architectural practices in terms of experience and cost.
Our key requirements have been given to the Architects as follows:
• The building must follow the original design principles, based on a “Norfolk Barn” style
• It must be able to deliver the key features contained in the original design; ie based upon
the original village survey
• In order to minimise future energy costs, it must accommodate sustainable energy sources
• The architects have already provided us with their initial thoughts and we anticipate a revised Planning Application by the end of February to allow for any required changes to the original.
• Interestingly, whilst the original design did not include a shop, the changes to the building,
may now allow us to reconsider this, subject to its future commercial viability.
We are taking expert advice on this.

Charity Issues

Hickling Playing Field Charity
• Many residents will be unaware that the existing playing field is actually not owned by the
Parish Council but a Charitable Trust, the Trustees of which are the Parish Council.
• This is important, because it means that the New Hall will be funded from both Charity
(the building sites on the existing field) and Parish (the existing Village Hall site) assets.
• New bank accounts have been set up for the Charity to completely separate its funding
from the Parish Council, to avoid any confl ict of interest.
Phoenix Trust
• In addition to the Playing Field Charity, another Charitable Trust exists in the village,
The Phoenix Trust. This was set up to administer the financial asset arising from the sale of the
old snooker and youth club building in Stubb Road
• The New Build Team is in active discussion with the Phoenix Trustees to allow a proportion of these funds be made available for the New Hall.
Charity Commission
• The Charity Commission ensures that Charity assets are administered according to original
requirements of the relevant Trusts. Again, we are in active discussion with the Charity Commission to ensure that this is the case.

Communication
• As ever, if you have any queries or ideas about the new Hall, forward them to Shirley
Sainsbury, our Parish Clerk.