VOTE: East Preston Village Hall extension debate

Villagers have forced a poll on the plans, to be held on Wednesday, August from 4-9pm, at the village hall itself, in Sea Road, and at East Preston Children and Family Centre, in St Mary's Drive.

Of the 634,000 build cost, 500,000 would be borrowed, over 25 years, from the Public Works Loan Board, the remainder coming from council reserves, and grants from Arun district and West Sussex county councils, as well as a possible National Lottery grant.

If it goes ahead, the scheme would include offices and a meeting room for parish council staff, currently housed in a portable building in the hall's car park, a new children's playground, and a community meeting room.

There would also be storage for the village hall and its users, a larger foyer area, with reception and a cafeteria, and toilet facilities.

While the parish council says that the project is desperately needed, and would benefit the whole community, the East Preston Action Group claims that borrowing such a large sum of money in today's economic climate would be wrong.

The poll was called for at a public meeting on the issue, held at the Royal British Legion club, in Sea Road, two weeks ago, and will cost about 3,500, to be charged to the parish council.

All East Preston residents registered to vote are entitled to take part in the poll.

Read both sides of the argument below.

Have your say

Do you support the village hall plans? Vote yes or no in the panel to the bottom right of the screen.

Case for:

REDEVELOPING East Preston Village Hall will bring benefits to the whole community, says the parish council.

The enhancement project, which has been in the pipeline since 2007, will provide extra storage space for the village hall and those who use it, as well as a foyer area with a reception and cafeteria, and a new children's playground with exiting new equipment.

A dedicated, fully-equipped meeting room would be available to the whole community, as well as a parish council area, to include an office, a small meeting room and archive storage.

In 2007, it was agreed that the Warren Recreation Ground charity, of which the parish council is trustee, would work in partnership with the council and the village hall foundation, to launch a mutually-beneficial project, to address growing local needs and to provide resources for community benefit.

The village hall needs more storage and an enhanced reception area, to operate effectively, and the village has no dedicated and equipped community meeting room, other than British Legion Poppy Room.

The Warren Recreation Ground charity would receive income from the meeting room.

The parish council has an increasing role within the village, and has responsibility to provide appropriate accommodation, which should be central and accessible to parishioners, for staff.

The present children's playground is 19 years old and needs modernising for the growing number of young families in the village.

The scheme was granted planning permission in March, 2009, and from an electorate of 5,600, 125 letters of objection were lodged.

Both the Charity Commission and the Department for Communities and Local Government have approved the scheme.

The total cost is projected as 634,000, and of that the council would borrow 500,000 from the Public Works Loans Board at a fixed four per cent interest for 25 years.

Repayments would equate to a 6 a year contribution for a Band D household, though no increase in precept is envisaged over the next three years

Grant aid has been obtained from Arun district and West Sussex county councils, and a 50,000 contribution from lottery funds is anticipated.

Contributed by Chris Roberts, chairman of East Preston Parish Council

The case against

THE Reverend Warren must be turning in his grave, according to the East Preston Action Group.

More than 70 years ago, the generous local vicar made a bequest ensuring we would have a recreational area for the whole community.

Thanks to him, the residents of East Preston have a space to call their own.

The minor snag is, due to the village hall's popularity, there is a lack of storage space for furniture and equipment.

Yet in an extraordinary move, supposedly to solve this niggling storage problem, village bigwigs have announced plans to build a huge extension – an extension which will saddle local taxpayers with an astonishing 1m debt, to include interest on the loan required.

A million quid to store a few tables and chairs?

An extension that will shrink the size of the attached playground and shift it to a spot menaced by rogue cricket balls, while also slashing parking spaces?

That surely wasn't what the Rev Warren intended.

East Preston Action Group believes the parish council – who just happen to also be the trustees of the Warren Recreation Ground Charity – are looking after themselves, not us.

While the extension includes a storage area for the hall, the vast majority of this million pound extravagance will be taken up by a parish office and new meeting rooms which the parish council wants; but no-one else does.

Normally, a parish council would be banned from deciding to plonk its own offices on charity land bequeathed to villagers.

It is a disgrace to the Rev Warren's memory that councillors are taking advantage of the fact that they are also trustees of the Warren Recreation Ground Charity.

We need to stop them spending our money on making our facilities worse. If we don't, we'll still be paying off the massive loan for this unwanted extension in 25 years.

Contributed by the East Preston Action Group

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