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April the first might not be the most appropriate date to publish the results of the Survey conducted by the Village Hall Management Committee but, thanks to Sally Oakley, here they are for your perusal.

As those of you who participated will be aware, the survey was in two parts.

TOTAL VOTES CAST FOR THESE OPTIONS : 170	VOTES	% of Votes Cast
I agree that the VHMC should investigate a joint sale with Osborne of Massey's Folly with the provision for a new Village Hall. I see this as the probable best option	105	61.67%
I agree that the VHMC should investigate a joint sale with Osborne of Massey's Folly. However, I would prefer that the Village Hall remains at Massey's Folly if an acceptable plan is developed by the MFPT	45	26.47%
I do not agree that the VHMC should investigate a joint sale with Osborne of Massey's Folly. I would prefer that the Village Hall remains at Massey's Folly	20	11.67%

TOTAL VOTES CAST FOR THESE OPTIONS : 154	VOTES	% of Votes Cast
I think that the suggestion of a combined residential and Village Hall development at Massey's Folly should be investigated	33	21.43%
I do not think that the suggestion of a combined residential and Village Hall development at Massey's Folly should be investigated	121	78.57%

Looking at the second part of the survey first (just to make sure you are awake) it is fairly obvious that the vast majority of voters realise that the combining of residential accommodation in the same building as the Village Hall is not a realistic option, something which comes as no surprise to anybody who has followed the endless debates over the future options for Massey's Folly.

While I don't have a degree in statistical analysis, it is fairly obvious that preferred option of almost two thirds of those who voted in the first part of the survey, would be to sell off the Folly for, presumably some sort of residential development, and construct a New Village Hall on an unspecified site somewhere in the Village.

At first sight this option would seem to have several points in its favour:

• Farringdon would have a new purpose built Village Hall with modern facilities
• The responsibility for maintaining The Reverend Massey's eccentric construction would no longer be a factor in the Village Hall running costs as a new building should be considerably cheaper and easier to maintain and heat than the Folly
• As a Listed Building, the Folly would be preserved more or less intact by the new owner or owners, ( assuming, as one cynical villager observed that an 'accidental' fire doesn't burn the building to the ground during development work)

Before we all get carried away on a tide of enthusiasm for a new Village Hall, a number of questions have to be answered, not least the location of a site for the new building.

When initial proposals were put forward to construct a New Village Hall some years ago, proposals which caused some controversy and resulted in the formation of the Massey's Folly Preservation Trust and a complete reformation of the Village Hall Management Committee, it was suggested that a Village Hall could be sited not far from the A32, behind Chase View. However, the space available at this site was, and still is, limited to the area to the east of the access road to the Shirnall Meadows estate as the western side will inevitably be flooded again at some time in the not too distant future. Then, and presumably now, this site was considered too small to accommodate a sufficiently large building and associated parking etc. to meet the needs of the Village.

So is there an alternative site? There are a number of open spaces around the Village that would be suitable but recent experience suggests that any landowner offering a site is likely to want to cram in some more financially rewarding developments as a condition and would the cost, aesthetically speaking, be too much to pay for a new hall.

Finance is always going to be a triccky problem, although funding is a major obstacle whichever option is eventually adopted. The potential cash return from the sale of the Village Hall is not likely to be a significant sum. The constraints imposed when converting a listed building will preclude any huge profit on resale or leasing when the project is completed and therefore, the sale value of the Hall is considerably less than would be the case for a more conventional building.

Selling the building for redevelopment also has implications for future of the Massey's Folly Preservation Trust, which was set up with the aim, once the 'Osborne' end was purchased, of preserving and restoring the Folly, plans which included refurbishment of the Vilage Halll.

There is also the slightly grey area of exactly what restrictions may be placed on the use of money raised from the potential sale of the Village Hall.

Those of you old enough to remember when part of the Folly was sold of some years ago, will recall that, contrary to the expectation of many supporters of the sale, who expected the proceeds to provide an assured future for the Village Hall, there were legal complications that entailed setting up an educational trust and virtually none of the money ever found its way into the Village Hall coffers.

Whether or not these restrictions would still apply to any proceeds from selling the Village Hall I am, not for the first time, in complete ignorance, but before any negotiations begin, any possible restriction on the use of the proceeds of the sale need to be clarified to ensure that, if the decision is made to sell, the money raised can be used to fund the construction of a new Village Hall and not be subject to conditions imposed by some obscure covenant applied to the building in the distant past..

There is one other potential problem concerning the First Friends Nursery School, which at present occupies the 'Osborne' half of the Folly. The current arrangement, with First Friends in a separate part of the building leaving the Hall free for use during the day, works very well. If the building were wholly owned as was the original intention when the MFPT was set up, the regular rental income from First Friends would provide a valuable boost to the VHMC funds and might be a way to retain the Folly for the use of Farringdon residents and the various regular and occasional users of the Hall from neighbouring areas.

The potential problem is not with the School itself, which is a valuable asset to the village and has grown considerably since it was founded some years ago, but the restrictions it would place on other users of the New Hall as it would obviously occupy the building every week day.

Conversion of the Folly would, assuming that First Friends wish to remain in Farringdon, mean that provision would have to be made in the New Village Hall to accommodate the nursery. This would either mean restricting the use of the new Hall for other hirers to weekends and evenings or, building in facilities to accommodate the nursry school in a separate area, which will necessarily require extra funding to finance the extra additions

As usual with the Folly there are problems, pitfalls and countless alternative options for the future, no doubt all opinions will get an airing at the forthcoming public meetings in the Village Hall. First up is the Massey's Folly Preservation Trust Open meeting on Wednesday 16th April at 7 p.m. in the Folly followed by the Village Hall Management Committe Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 30th April at 8.00 p.m.. I only hope that whatever is decided there can be some tangible progress in the not too far distant future.

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