A New Hall for Eynsford
Background
The Eynsford Village Hall Trustees have been working with Eynsford Parish Council for several years to replace the old village hall with a modern, accessible and sustainable community facility that will serve the residents of Eynsford for generations to come. The existing hall has been a vital part of village life for many decades but has now reached the end of its useful life due to significant structural issues, ongoing settlement, maintenance problems and limitations associated with its current site. The purpose of the new hall is to provide a welcoming, inclusive and flexible community space that supports educational, sporting, cultural, recreational and social activities.
The new hall will comprise a large main hall, two meeting rooms, a fully equipped kitchen, accessible facilities and modern energy-efficient low carbon mechanical/electrical systems. It will be situated at Harrow Meadow, a central and accessible location within the village. The improved facilities, enhanced accessibility and greater parking provision will enable a much broader range of activities and events to take place than in the past. Furthermore, the improved quality of the facilities will make the new hall a much more attractive proposition for weddings, enabling the trustees to generate more income from private hires which will in turn allow hiring rates for community use to be kept at accessible levels.
The hall will be available to all sections of the community. The trustees are committed to equality of opportunity and do not discriminate on the grounds of race, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, marital status or socio-economic background. We intend the hall to be used by existing community groups, sports clubs, arts organisations, youth groups, older people’s organisations, visitors to the village, charitable organisations, private hirers and community interest groups.
Bookings are expected to be managed through a modern booking system, potentially including online access through the hall website. Detailed arrangements for access to the hall will be developed once the construction of the new hall is underway, and options including electronic access controls and key-safe systems will be explored. The objective is to ensure that access is secure, convenient and proportionate to the needs of different user groups. Responsibility for the car park will rest with the parish council but the trustees expect to work with them to ensure that users of the hall have appropriate access.
The trustees intend to employ a hall manager to oversee bookings, liaise with users and actively promote the facility. Particular effort will be made to attract organisations and residents who did not use the old hall. This will include active marketing, outreach to underrepresented groups, encouraging educational and cultural activities, developing health and wellbeing programmes, engaging with visiting school groups, promoting opportunities for young people and older residents, and encouraging organisations that have previously moved elsewhere because of the condition of the existing hall to return.
The Parish Council consultation on the Public Works Loan is currently running, Eynsford Residents can show their support on their website. In order to answer some of the common questions, the Trustees have prepared a Consultation Q and A for residents to review.
If you wish to view the current designs, please download the PDFs from the links below.
Please note that these should be used for informational purposes only. For planning or construction purposes, please contact the Trustees to ensure you receive copies of the current designs. All designs are subject to change and review.
