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The Farringdon Village Hall Management Committee have revealed the proposed plans for converting the existing Village Hall into residential accommodation in association with J M Osborne, managing agents for the owners of the western part of the Folly.The proposed plans are on display inside the Village Hall entrance lobby.

(To view the plans in the hall contact the Village Hall key holders - Booking Clerk: Mrs Julie Lewis on 588557 or The FVHMC Chairman: Sally Oakley on 588379)

Copyright prevents publication of the plans on these pages at present but they will be available on the East Hants Planning web site once the formal planning application has been submitted.

There are two sets of plans on offer but both propose to convert the whole of Massey's Folly, including the Village Hall, into residential accommodation, either partitioned into eleven flats or four "Town Houses" an unlikely offering for a village setting but "Town Houses" seems to be a euphemism for four larger flats than the alternative proposal.

The major beneficiaries of the current proposals are the owners of the western end of the Folly, they already have planning permission for converting their part of the building to housing but in reality, the plans are unworkable with the existing division of the building and are further complicated by the rights of access to the Village Hall through the old school playground

The FVHMC took the decision to follow this course of action after rejecting the offer from the Massey's Folly Preservation Trust to purchase the Village Hall, part of the MFPT's campaign to gain ownership of the whole of the building, thereby gaining access to funding for restoration of the Folly, plans which included provision of a Village Hall.

The FVHMC gave a number of valid reasons for rejection of the MFPT offer in the newsletter, published in February this year and, at the Village Meeting in April 2009, the MFPT offer was dismissed as ". . .too risky . . " by the FHVMC Chairman.

Whether the current proposals are more or less "risky" than the MFPT offer is a matter of opinion but the FVHMC claims that in their survey of villagers there was strong support, from those who responded, for the existing Village Hall to be sold and replaced with a brand new Village Hall on a new site.

This may be true, but the results of any questionnaire very much depend on the questions you ask. If you ask people in the street whether they would like to have a shiny new car or their old one, the majority would almost certainly opt for the brand new option. If you rephrase the question and ask if they are prepared to cough up thousands of pounds to finance the exchange there will be a different answer.

At their Annual General Meeting, the FVHMC gave an undertaking that whatever happened "Farringdon would not be left without a Village Hall". If the promise is to be honoured, the site, financing and construction of the replacement must be completed in advance of the loss of any existing Hall facilities.

The reality is that the cost of purchasing a site for a new Village Hall will be far more than the sale value of the current hall even with permission to convert to residential accommodation. Converting the Folly into flats, whether they have one or three bedrooms, is complicated by the buildings listed status. The potential profits, which have a considerable bearing on the sale value of the Village Hall, will be far less than would be the case with a new build.

Where the FVHMC are going to find a site for a new village hall is another thorny question. The area of land required, which will have to include provision for parking space as well as the new super-hall, is considerable and just where is there a suitable and affordable site in Farringdon?

Even if a site within the village is identified, the chances of a land being donated at anything less than building plot prices is unlikely, unless the construction of a considerable number of new houses is offered as a sweetener and whatever deal is negotiated, the total cost of the project will be rather more than the cost of a new family car, or a luxury supercar for that matter.

Sadly, the continuing antipathy between the two charities who, working together, might offer a realistic solution to the preservation of Massey's Folly and the future of a well equipped Village Hall for the village of Farringdon, is not likely to engender much support from villagers for either organisation, or their respective schemes, unless they can reconcile their personal differences and produce a coherent and financially realistic plan for the future provision of a public amenity building in Farringdon.

 

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