Village hall to be refurbished

7:58am Friday 4th July 2008

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THE collapse of controversial plans to build a new village hall in Harvington has led to action from a determined group of residents.

Plans to build a new hall were approved by Wychavon District Council last year but the scheme fell through after funding that the village hall management committee expected to receive, was pulled before work could begin.

This was a great disappointment to supporters of the scheme but not to all the villagers as many campaigned against the new village hall and a 400 name petition was even drawn up to oppose it.

Now committee member John Redman is asking the village to unite and help in the major refurbishment of the existing hall.

The work is set to begin in a matter of weeks when the pre-school which uses the hall breaks up for its summer holidays and the project is expected to take around a year to complete.

Mr Redman said: "The original scheme did cause some problems in the village but that fell through as we didn't receive the funding we were banking on.

"We had to go away and lick our wounds for a while after that news but I think we have a great plan and the opportunity to do this work ourselves now.

"I will be project managing the scheme and I want to ask any village resident who wants to help, whether it is with DIY skills, fetching and carrying or simply making the teas, to get in touch and be part of this exciting community project."

The plans for refurbishment include extending the hall to a modest degree', putting in a new heating system and fitting a new kitchen.

Mr Redman added: "We are going to try to bring a 1930s hall up to the 21st century."