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FOLLY TRUST CONSULT THE VILLAGE. . . Updated 20th April 2008
The Massey's Folly Preservation Trust held their consultation evening in the Village Hall last Wednesday evening (16th April) to display the provisional plans drawn up by The Radley House Partnership and to provide an opportunity for the audience to offer their comments and make their own suggestions on the Trust Plans for the future of the Folly.
Prior to the opening of the meeting there was the opportunity to partake of the refreshments on offer and to examine the displays from The Trust and their appointed Architects.
On hand were, Gillian
McCallum, John Pickering and Geoff Cumber from the Preservation Trust with
Jeremy Poll and Richard Codd from the Radley House Partnership, Appointed
Architects for the MFPT.
As can be seen above, the plans produced by The Radley House Partnership, showing how the building might be developed for future use, proved a major attraction. These plans will be made available on the Biz pages in more detail shortly, so I won't go into any great detail but in essence, they include various options for interior alterations, with provision for the Nursery School, the existing Village Hall and modifications to the existing stairwell to allow access to the upper floors.
This would allow
income to be generated from the upper rooms and areas of the Folly, and open
up some of the previously inaccessible areas of the building for a variety
of uses. These plans incorporate changes within the existing framework of
the existing building leaving the existing open space at the rear of the Folly
available for parking etc.
The Trust Chair, Gillian McCallum, (seen here with Richard Codd (centre) and Jeremy Poll from the Radley House Partnership) opened the meeting with a brief introduction, followed by a presentation from Jeremy and Richard giving an outline of their brief and stressing the importance of producing a plan for the building that will incorporate the facilities required by present and future users and be viable financially in the future.
Also discussed was the disappointing number of returned consultation documents after copies were circulated around Farringdon and the neighbouring parishes.
The various upheavals within both organisations connected with the Folly which had for some time stalled the progress of the project must be a major factor but it has to be said the present political climate has resulted in an increasing reluctance to fill in any official looking forms that require the addition of personal details.
After the initial presentation the audience broke up into small groups headed by the various representatives of the Trust and Radley House to discuss the various permutations for the future uses, development and additions that those attending felt should be considered for inclusion in any future development of the Folly.
Here
Jeremy Codd from Radley Hose was getting the benefit of some advice in one corner
. . .
'
. . . While The Massey's Folly Trust Project Officer, Geoff Cumber,(second
from the left)was asking the questions on the other side of the Hall.
One
problem that seemed to concern many, particularly those in living in close proximity
to the Folly was the hazard created by increased traffic in Church Road. Most
drivers were driving at a speed appropriate for the narrow lanes but there were
one or two morning mobile phone addicts whose single handed approach to the
Folly presented something of a hazard in the narrow confines near the entrance.
One suggested solution from the Architects, bearing in mind that more traffic
would be generated if the Folly is refurbished, was to provide another entrance
at the eastern end of the Folly to allow cars to exit where the road was wider
and better visual sight lines for emerging vehicles.
Gillian
had some to field some interesting offerings in her corner, including a discourse
on fitting solar panels and the problems of constructing a prefabricated Village
Hall.
The latter discussion was prompted by the Village Hall Management Committee Survey, circulated around the same time as the Trusts own consultation document. The VHMC survey seeming to indicate that a majority of those responding would prefer to abandon the Folly in favour of a new Village Hall.
The
possibility that the Folly could be lost to the Village as a public building
has to be considered but general feeling of those present in the Hall on Wednesday
night, would indicate that the loss of the present facilities would present
some very serious problems, not least finding a site within the Parish boundary,
that could leave Farringdon without a home for the Village Hall or the Nursery
School.
After
the discussion the coffee break provided an opportunity for a brief assessment
of the information gathered during the group session, and John Pickering and
Gillian take a quick breather . . .
. . . as Jeremy and Geoff sift through the paperwork.
A more detailed assessment of the results will be available later and will form the basis of the next Trust meeting in May but a quick scan through the discussion sheets indicated that the plans provided a sound basis to incorporate the facilities suggested by the groups with the provision of sufficient storage space an important factor to be taken into consideration.
As previously mentioned, traffic management was another universal cause for some concern, the opening of a second entrance would help but extra use would involve more vehicle movements on the narrow road and would need to be addressed as the scheme progresses.
The Nursery School facilities should be retained as this facility is an asset to the village and would also help to generate income to maintain the viability of the building in the future.
An ever present problem was the perceived division between the two halves of the Village, although the gp is getting forever narrower as house building creeps down Shirnall Hill towards the A32
The closure of the official meeting was followed by the traditional chair gathering activities and the audience and principals retired from the Hall with plenty to think about in the weeks to come.
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