Newsletter

Thank you for contributing, printing, distributing and reading the monthly newsletter throughout 2009, may you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
With effect from January 2010 copies of the Newsletter will be available in the new Parish Hall as well as the Village Inn. Newsletter items to ibuxton16@btinternet.com by Tuesday 26th January for the next issue please.

Parish Hall

FROM MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TO MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
The new hall has been built! Congratulations to all involved. The Building Inspector was due to sign off the hall just as the Newsletter was going to press and possession was scheduled for Christmas week.

Some finishing off might be necessary during the first week or two of January and the Committee will be busy ensuring all requisite safety checks, posting of statutory and other notices are in place before the premises are ready to use. Please bear with us for a little longer, but if you are a skittles player then matches scheduled for 26th and 28th January will be in the new hall.

In order to publicise the hall beyond the parish boundaries an open day has been arranged for Friday 5th February 2010 between 10.30am and 2.30pm but everyone is welcome to come and have a good browse round. There will be light refreshments available. The official opening ceremony will be performed on 20th March 2010 and tickets for the evening function will be on sale in the New Year.

Attached to this Newsletter is a schedule of the new hall booking fees to keep handy.

The new hall story is familiar to many, but for the benefit of those reasonably new to the Parish or have forgotten or become confused by the various twists and turns of the unfolding developments perhaps the moment is opportune to put a few of the financial facts straight.

The old hall was built in 1904 by the Independent Order of Rechabites and in 1929 was sold to the Ashwater Parish Hall and Institute for £260.00. Over the years it served the Parish well, but became tired, outdated and began costing money e.g. in 1996 over £7,500 was spent on updating the toilets. Many users began wondering how long it would remain fit for purpose and by the time of the Parish Appraisal in 1997, which achieved an 85% response rate, a majority of replies wished for a new hall.

The existing Hall Committee realised from then on that if a new hall was to be built then a refreshed committee would be required and new members were recruited. Jack Moon kindly offered a site and in 1998 funds started to be accumulated to pay for the costs associated with arranging legal transfer of the land and installation of a water supply. Various activities and proposals followed culminating in an open meeting on 14 June 2000 when the suggested budget for a new hall was £250,000 with 10% targeted to be raised locally.

A design for the new hall was prepared and in 2002 a Parish Survey (70% response) established the overwhelming continuing need for this to be developed. At the same time comments were obtained on the design and support for proposed activities within a new hall. The 2003 Parish Appraisal (80% response) endorsed the need to expedite completion.

Securing title to the land donated for the new hall, lifting restrictive covenants, installing a water supply, obtaining an acceptable hall design and initial planning application took until 2005. Planning regulations then changed requiring a Section 106 Agreement that tied disposal of the old hall to provision of a new one. This took another 12 months and added over £1,000 to the legal costs.

Final planning consent was secured in November 2007. Apart from the land itself, everything else cost money that was raised from or by parish members. During this time a further indicative budget estimate of building costs was secured at £400,000. This figure formed the basis of work on the Big Lottery Bid and a Stage 1 lottery grant of up to £25,000 was obtained to progress work towards the Stage 2 application, which required a formal tender procedure to be undertaken.

Four Contractors were invited to tender. One did not respond. The remaining three submitted prices in January 2008 for £985,767, £756,897 and £690,708. A far cry from the indicative figure! Negotiated savings achieved a reduction of the lowest tender to £620,088 and after removing the cost of External Works to be completed by a local contractor at a more competitive rate the final Construction Cost for purposes of the lottery bid was £578,788 plus legal and professional fees.

This sum exceeded the limits that would be considered by the Lottery Fund and further judicial pruning was needed before a bid was submitted for £428,064. In May 2008 a successful lottery award of £380,959 was achieved. This was dependent on the balance of the build costs plus legal and professional fees being raised by the Hall Committee during the next twelve months.

Furthermore, just to add to the challenge, the BLF also prohibited proceeds from the anticipated sale of the old hall from being taken into account. Although a large proportion of the balance was raised (and pledged) it was apparent that to take advantage of the BLF grant a fresh round of tenders was needed.

This was completed in January 2009. The lowest previous tender was maintained and again three out of four other contractors responded with tenders of £529,249, £490,119 and £384,256. Additional work and costs were identified and added to the lowest tender and after negotiation a Contract Sum was agreed at £388, 856. This was over and above an amount in excess of £75,000 already spent on preparation work, legal and professional fees and ground works. Legal costs and professional fees in respect of the main build have to be added.

Unfortunately the success in securing a lower tender meant by virtue of the terms of the lottery award offer the grant was also reduced to £361,195 requiring the Hall Committee to raise the difference at very short notice. This was achieved and work finally commenced on the new hall in June 2009, some 12 years after the initial concept was aired.

As can be seen from the above at every step of the way, hurdles, hoops and obstacles arose and there were many others not mentioned, such as some match funding being unexpectedly withdrawn. The persuasive powers of one particular committee member got a substantial proportion reinstated and were indicative of the resolve, humour and determination that have been required to achieve success.

Inevitably over such a long period people have left or joined the committee, but what is apparent is that the objective has never wavered. Everyone involved be it for the entire period of the project or just some of the time have given selflessly, worked tirelessly and refused to accept that the mission was impossible. The greatest reward they can be given is for the hall to used to the full.

The tale has yet to end because additional costs have been incurred for amendments and improvements as the work has progressed moreover further amounts have to be spent on furniture and equipment before the hall is fully ready for use. Although the hall story does not quite qualify as a ‘Saga’ it has certainly filled a few volumes with the correspondence and paperwork involved - thankfully we now have a new hall in which to store it all!

Ashwater Lunch Club

Our thanks to Dee and Phil and staff for the extra special effort and superb Christmas Luncheon provided to all who attended the December meal. The next lunch will be on Thursday 7th January 2010 in the Village Inn at 12.30pm.

Parish Council

The parish council send their best wishes to Barry and Hazel Thomas on their retirement and thank them for their services to the Ashwater community for the many years that they have been running the shop and post office.

The Boundary Committee have made a recommendation to the Secretary of State about Devon’s Structural Review and this is now open to consultation until 19 January 2010.

Ashwater School - a letter will be written to Devon County Council stating that the parish council object to a new perimeter fence being erected as it will spoil the visual look of the school.

The parish precept has been set for the year 2010/2011 at £9,000, this includes an amount of £3,500 if required to be used for the new village shop.

Draft Wind Energy Policy - Torridge District Council - Ivan Buxton has written a very comprehensive report to TDC stating objections to the proposal and the parish council fully support his action.

Photo Competition
The National Association of Local Councils are promoting a photographic competition.
Digital photographs of the locality - landscape, people, objects, live action or anything that shows off the area and our community can be sent by 15th January 2010 by email to lcreditor@nalc.gov.uk with "LCR Photo Competition" in the subject line. Only digital photos please and they must be of 300dpi; size: 15cm. With your photo please add a couple of lines describing what you have photographed and include your name and state it is on behalf of Ashwater Parish Council. The prize is a ten page website designed and published by specialists in parish council websites.

Grass Cutting on the Village Green.The parish council are inviting contractors to tender for cutting the grass on the village green for this year. The quotation should be for approximately 15 cuts, strim and the cuttings taken away. The contractor should have their own public liability insurance and be able to supply a copy to the parish council. All tenders should be submitted to the parish clerk, Sheila Myers, Springfield Bungalow, Halwill Junction, Beaworthy EX21 5UF or email: clerk@sheanddave.plus.com

The chair and councillors wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

From our District Councillor

Ashwater Parish Calendar of Forthcoming Events

ASHWATER PARISH HALL FEES - FROM JANUARY to MAY 2010

Tariff

(All Bookings are Subject to Availability)
The booking fees do not apply to residents and organisations within the area of benefit comprising Ashwater Parish and the Hamlet of Ash Mill.
Priority may be given to whole hall bookings over regular/repeat bookings. See Hire Agreement for details.

Sessions

• Session 1 is 08.00 to 13.00.
• Session 2 is 13.00 to 18.00.
• Session 3 is 18.00 to 24.00.

Whole Parish Hall Including Full Kitchen Use for Catering

Rates Monday - Sunday (0800 - 2400hrs): £125.00 (Booking Fee: £30.00)

Jack Moon Hall (Including Use of Kitchen for Light Refreshments)

Session 1. £3.00/hr Session 2. £3.00/hr Session 3. £5.00/hr
Booking Fee Sessions 1 and 2: £10 Booking Fee Session 3: £20

Des Shadrick Room, Meeting Room and Multi-purpose Room
(Including Use of Kitchen for Light Refreshments)

Sessions 1 and 2. £2.00/hr. Session 3. £4.00/hr Booking Fee All Sessions £10

NB1: Skittles Matches in the Des Shadrick Room includes use of the Multi-Purpose Room.
NB2: Rate for Elections: £85.00

Kitchen

Use for preparing Non-Alcoholic Drinks Tea/Coffee etc is included in hall rates (consumables other than water not supplied).
Use for any other catering - £25.00

Bar

Any function with a bar - £25.00 in addition to hire rates (See rules regarding licensing)

Cleaning

For functions involving use of the Whole Hall or Jack Moon Hall and Kitchen there is an option to pay for cleaning at £25.00, or £35 for any event where alcohol is served, but if not taken up the Committee reserve the right to charge these rates if the Hall is not left clean and tidy after use.

Attention is drawn to the Standard Conditions of Hire and the Hire Agreement as both should be read in conjunction with this table of fees for booking purposes.

Our aim is to be as flexible and as exclusive as possible for your booking needs but as the hall is multi-functional then the kitchen may occasionally be in use by more than one hirer at a time if multiple rooms are being utilised by different hirers.

Distribution of Newsletters

My thanks to those who provide articles for, and distribute the newsletters. If you know of anybody who did not receive a copy please let me know: copies will as always be available at the Post Office and in the Village Inn. Any information for inclusion in or offers to help please contact Ivan Buxton, my e-mail address is newsletter@ashwaterparish.org.uk.
Thanks also to Kirk Engineering who kindly reproduce these newsletters for the Parish.

Website designed by Anthony Williams and Henriette North.
Comments and Submissions to webmaster@ashwaterparish.org.uk
Last modified: Monday December 21, 2009