Village Centre Redevelopment
Meeting 27 th September 2010
It is now over a year since we held a village meeting chaired by my predecessor Simon Tanner to seek the views of the village as to whether there was support for redeveloping our hall. The meeting was well attended and there was overwhelming support for the proposal. Since then there has been solid progress which I would like to share with you all.
First of all, Simon Tanner has had to step down due to intense work pressure. This redevelopment was his brain child and he put in much work in the initial stages for which we are extremely grateful. I was flattered to be asked to take over from him and we now have a specific Redevelopment Committee to focus on the redevelopment.
In order to satisfy the concerns of a few that it would be a cheaper option to do a repair job and also to convince financial benefactors of the necessity to rebuild our hall, an architect (Christopher Rayner who has done sterling work for our church) was commissioned to carry out a feasibility study as to the cost and viability of bringing our existing hall up to standard ( the correct word for this is a “retro refit”). The minimum cost estimate for this was £500,000 and we would still have been left with the same sized hall with all its shortcomings. The argument for a total rebuild in the opinion of the Committee was overwhelming.
The next step was to come up with an outline plan for a new hall and we were delighted two have the support of two locals Rob Collier of Offset Architects, Sevenoaks and Oliver Morse of Frankham Developments, Sidcup who volunteered their services and have so far not charged for which we are most grateful. The initial brief was for a new hall which in addition to catering for all the existing users also had purpose built accommodation for the Rainbow Group who are hoping to move into temporary premises sited at Cooling Green and Pleasant and facilities for the Village Club of which more later.
The results of their work are on display and both Rob and Oliver are here to talk through what they have come up with. We are most anxious that villagers and affiliated users are satisfied that this is what we need for the future so your comments and opinions are keenly sought. We do not want to hear the moans that can follow these types of developments along the lines that we were never consulted. Your input whether positive or negative is what we are seeking. Please study the plans and let us know what you think either to me or preferably to our Secretary Doreen Jones. Please click this link to download a questionnaire which can be printed and mailed to the clerk.
The next stage is to integrate any changes in these outline plans which we will finalise at our next Redevelopment Committee meeting. We will then formally appoint an architect to proceed with the drawing up of working drawings prior to a formal planning application being submitted to Sevenoaks District Council.
How much is all this going to cost is the issue that I am sure you want me to elaborate on. On the basis of outline drawings only, our advisors are obviously cautious and the figures range between £750,000 to £1,500,000 so a great deal of hard work will be required on the Fund Raising front. Some grants may be available and Lottery Funds are beginning to flow again following the Olympics diversion which has swallowed up all their funds for the last few years. All grants have to be matched by our own fund raising efforts so we are going to have to roll up our sleeves and work very hard. We cannot apply for any funding until we have a firm plan to put forward and realistically, we cannot start our own money raising efforts until we are at that stage.
The position of the Village Club is a difficult and complicated area. As I am sure you are aware, the Club lease their premises from KVCC and the same would apply if they wish to occupy premises in the new Centre. We have provisionally allocated space in our outline plans for the Club but they have yet to respond with their views. The membership of the Club does not include many from our village these days and the details of their members are uncertain. It would be interesting to know how many here tonight are members and what their views are. Communication has proved difficult. The Club own in their own name the plot of land adjacent to this building which was previously occupied by the doctors surgery and we have put to the Club Chairman/spokesman (who does not live in the village) the possibility that they consider relinquishing this land to KVCC in exchange for an advantageous rent in the new premises. He was going to put this to the Club members who are all jointly owners of the land but to date we have not received a response. In the event that such a deal could be struck, we are advised that subject to planning permission this land could fetch a useful sum and would kick start our fund raising. The land does not have this attraction to the Club as access to the site is by the existing drive in to the car park which is owned by Knockholt Parish Council. This avenue is one that we are very anxious to pursue and if there are any club members here, we would urge them to put pressure on their hierarchy to open negotiations. We hope that all Club members have been made aware of this situation which could be of great benefit to them as well as KVCC.
I am sorry to have gone on for so long but we are at an important stage in our plans. Our current Redevelopment Committee is small and enthusiastic but we do need further volunteers particularly anyone who has experience in the Fund Raising area. Please let me or Doreen know if you are interested or if you know of any one we can press gang in to helping. When you have had a look at these plans, I hope you will be as enthused as we are that we can achieve a Village Centre that Knockholt can be proud of. |
