MINUTES OF HULLAVINGTON NEW VILLAGE HALL PROJECT GROUP MEETING
PRESENT: Dave Hunt, Bob Fenner, Victor Rawlins, Julian Greenman, William Harmer, John Metters, Anne Durrant.
1. New Village Hall Project Business
1.1. Apologies: Maggie Bawden, John Greenwood, Paul Hadley, Mark Collard, Helen Kemp, Joan Shaw, Neil Hamilton.
1.2. Minutes of the last meeting held on 24th July were agreed and signed
1.3. Matters arising – there were none
1.4. Tendering for the new hall –
1.4.1. 3 tenders were received on 2nd September. A good evaluation was held on 5th September and the evaluation group had little difficulty in recommending Terrapin to the Parish Council and the PC was unanimous in accepting this recommendation at its last meeting.
1.4.2. A constructive meeting was held with Steve Mercer from Terrapin who suggested that Terrapin could also relay and reconnect the water pipes and re-surface the car park. Bob felt that, if Terrapin’s proposals were satisfactory, timescales and planning would be simplified by this solution.
1.4.3. Bob presented a post-tendering project budget.
1.5. Next steps
1.5.1. We are awaiting Terrapin’s revised and final quotation taking into account the work to the water pipes and car park.
1.5.2. At the October PC meeting Bob will present the final budget after final adjustments have been made. Around £52,000 will need to be borrowed. Bob thanked all on the tendering and evaluation group for their expertise and knowledge.
1.5.3. We will apply for a loan after the PC meeting in October when the final budget has been agreed. Once the loan has been agreed we will have 6 months before we have to call down the money.
1.5.4. The Hall committee will apply for planning permission. A site plan is still needed and Maggie will ask John Scollen to make one for us. The PC will pay for this and we will then reimburse them (the cost is half price if put through the PC)
1.5.5. Bob and Dave have roughly measured the hall site and drawn up an approximate plan. They considered locating the new hall to the right of the site so that an extra unit could be added to the left hand side at a later date if needed. However, the porch would then be too close to the wall for easy access, so they proposed that the hall be placed centrally on the site. This would preclude extending on the end of the building. It may be possible to extend to one side if necessary (to create an L-shaped building, but as this would mean the loss of car parking spaces, it may not pass planning regulations. The minimum legal required distances from the boundary walls are not known. John Scollen should be able to advise. The new hall will be shorter and wider than the old hall. John Metters was concerned that the PCC may like to know that there was a possibility for increasing the size of the hall if needed sometime in the future. Dave commented that if the hall was moved to the right to allow for an extension on the left, there would be extra drainage problems as two manhole covers are located there. Bob pointed out that the useable area of the new hall will be greater that the old (as pre-school is not present, the storage areas have been reduced). If, for example, pre-school wanted to use the hall again at some time in the future, extra storage space could be made by using external sheds.
1.5.6. Appointment of chartered surveyor to oversee construction for the PCC – Dave has informally approached Hugh Greenman to do the surveying; we would pay a fee for the work. If paid for the work Hugh would like indemnity insurance to be taken out. Could this be done through his place of work, thereby using their insurance? A lengthy discussion followed as to the exact nature of the overseeing. Bob thought that the 3 elements of the job were
· to check that the building design was fit for our purpose
· to do a detailed inspection of the specifications
· to monitor the building process
Bob would like a written statement from the PCC as to what exactly is need from a surveyor in terms of the level of monitoring needed. There had been talk of the PC and the PCC using different surveyors, but it was agreed that the interests of both groups are the same, namely to provide a building for the use of the inhabitants of the village.
As to safety matters and insurance of the site, Terrapin will have control of the site while construction is taking place and will have indemnity insurance, therefore the health and safety on site will be their responsibility.
1.5.7. Appointment of financial advisor – There is still some confusion about on what exactly we need to pay VAT. We do not pay VAT on the building and all fixtures. We do pay VAT on all the white goods and furniture. What about the foundations and the car park resurfacing? Bob is trying to find a financial advisor to help on these VAT matters. John Scollen may have some more information.
1.6. Update reports
1.6.1. Abbey sent the wrong application forms for opening a new bank account with a higher rate of interest, and so we are not opening a new account. Bob will time the drawing down of the loan so that the money will not be in the account for very long.
1.6.2. Bob has not had time to further the application for the Landfill Tax Credit scheme – as he has most of the information it would be difficult for someone else to take on the role.
1.6.3. The Lease consists of 2 parts: the Schedule to the lease is a constitutional document and cannot be changed without applying to the Charity Commission, but there is sufficient flexibility in the schedule for our purposes. The Lease and Trust Deed has some conditions that need to be written in, but it will closely follow the existing lease. The Albermarle Scheme will be part of the Lease and Trust Deed and will allow the PCC to enter into an agreement with the PC to use the land for a village hall. John showed a draft version of the Albermarle Scheme which the PCC’s solicitor has drawn up.
1.7. Overall project plan – Bob has trimmed the tasks down to 57. He is concerned that key tasks need to be done in order for the hall to be opened in time.
1.8. Clearing the hall site –
1.8.1. Phil Neal is supposed to be taking down pre-school’s old shed.
1.8.2. The concrete foundations of the old shed are within the proposed footprint of the new hall. Will Terrapin break it up?
1.8.3. A date was set for Saturday 15th October, between 10 am – noon for a committee session to tidy up the vegetation.
1.8.4. John pointed out that weed killer needs to be applied during the growing season for it to be effective.
1.9. AOB –Victor was concerned that Terrapin need to know the arrangement of the car park drainage, with the location of the overflow pit.
1.10. The next meeting will be held on Monday 21st November in the Church at 8pm.
2. Hall Management Committee business
2.1. Dave proposed that John Greenwood take over as co-ordinator of the 200 club. It was unanimously agreed.
2.2. The annual show was again very successful. Dave thanked Victor for the use of his barn. Around £200 was raised.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.25pm.