Breckland Council formally approved the planning application for the new village hall on 19th January 2012. Although the plans had already been approved in principal there were a number of details that had to be agreed with the planners before the ‘official’ approval was given.

See http://planning.breckland.gov.uk/portal/pls/portal/BRECKWEB.RPT_APPLICATION_DETAILS.SHOW?p_arg_names=reference&p_arg_values=3PL/2011/0756/F for details.

We ended the 2011 on a high when just before Christmas we had formal notification from Breckland of a grant for 30% of the architect’s fee, an amount of just under£8,000. As soon as we have raised the rest of the money needed (and we are nearly there) we will give the go ahead to the architects. They will then proceed to draw up plans suitable for a builder to quote against. Lots more has been happening in the last two months too, discussions have continued with Breckland Planning and the final plans have been altered a little to meet their ideas, which we have found a positive experience although it has meant some more work and expense. The final business plan is just about complete too. Luckily we have had the support of some professionals in the village who have given their time for free, for which we are most grateful. One clever young man has done some computer imagining and produced a wonderful picture of what the new hall should look like in situ. Something will be done about the puddles too!

As we are finding there are a lot of stages to this project and the one we are focussing on for 2012 is obtaining grants. We have had a workshop type meeting to set out priorities, and plan to identify large capital grant givers and make applications to them in the first instance. Our next meeting [check this site to confirm date] will be held on Saturday 25th February in the village hall meeting room at 10.00 a.m. We are always happy to welcome anyone who would like to  be involved in this major project for the village.

We have all been extremely saddened by the sudden death of Phil Hague who has been a key person in the preparation of the plans for the new village hall. He has given hours and hours of his time to this project over the last 3-4years. We will miss him greatly and are even more determined than ever to make sure this project comes to fruition in his memory. There have been two meetings with Breckland recently and some changes have been made to the façade of the building which we and Planning are happy with. Going through the plans with them has been a helpful and positive process. At the meeting on Tuesday 8th November the changes to the façade were shown and well received. So all that is finally in place and the Business Plan is also complete now, for which we are most grateful to Lovewell Blake, who have prepared it for us under the Pro Help scheme totally free of charge. We saw some new faces at the open meeting on Tuesday and are grateful for the offers of support we received, which are also very encouraging. It was also encouraging to see how the Buy a Brick scheme has grown in the six months since the last presentation. We expect to hold another open meeting in about 6 months so if you missed it this time we will hope to see you then. Fel Roberts sold several bottles of Bawdeswell Village Hall labelled wine and more is available from her. Our focus from here on will be on fundraising. The Committee intends to start the New Year with a Work Shop researching appropriate grant givers, so I guess we look forward to filling in a lot of forms next year! We are continuing our Wednesday morning weeding and litter picking at the play area and have planted about 300 bulbs. We had a lovely sunny afternoon doing that with some children and mothers during half term . So fingers crossed they come up and the squirrels don’t find them!

Our big news is that we have received planning approval [in principal] from Breckland Council for the proposed rebuilding of the Village Hall with some recommendations. A meeting is organised to take place with BrecklandPlanning shortly to go over some points, and when funds are available the conceptual plans we have drawn up will go to the architects for final detailed design suitable for building contractors to quote against, and for the addition of some architectural flair.We are continuing weeding and litter picking at the Children’s Play Area fortnightly (weather permitting) on Wednesdays at 9.30 am – next dates are 2nd November and 16th November. The new hall fund has a balance of about £14,500 at the moment, and if you have not yet committed to the Buy a Brick standing order scheme please, please consider doing so. Forms are available from David Cockburn 01362 688749 or Marietta Menzies 01362 688400

Project Bawdeswell are delighted to have been awarded matched funding of nearly £8,000 by Breckland Council. We will now be able to commence the engagement of professional services to provide a detailed design package which can be issued for tender to potential contractors for construction. This will include drawings, specifications, tender/contract documentation. The plans need to be developed professionally to ensure compliance and safety, environmental and building regulations and achieve the greatest economy of construction.

New Village Hall – Project Update

On Tuesday 8^th November at 7.30pm at the Village Hall a presentation was given to update the village on progress towards the new hall. A copy of the presentation is available by clicking here.

The Bar/Café was open and had a lively trade with £30  profit going to the New Hall Fund.

Project Bawdeswell Mourns the passing of Phil Hague

Phil who passed away suddenly on the evening of 3rd November 2011 will be sorely missed by the team. He had been at the core of the planning for the new hall building and had also made personal contributions to the New Hall fund through the sale of his paintings of local houses. A member also of the Village Hall Committee and a founder member of ‘The Bawdy Players’ who performed ‘Red Hot Cinders’ at the recent Harvest Supper with Phil as the Herald.

Our thoughts at this time are with Betty and her family.

From the October 2011 Reeve’s Tale

September has really started with a bang for the New Hall project. The Extravaganza, which was a wonderful day for the village with so much happening and lots to see and do, raised over £1,500 for the new hall fund, for which all at Project Bawdeswell are most grateful. Tony and Chris Hood undertook organising this day for Bawdeswell and a lot of work went into making it so successful. They rallied lots of friends and family to the cause and we can’t thank them all enough. If you didn’t get a ride onTony’s bus make sure you do next time it is in service – it is a great experience! Then 3 days later the Flower Demonstration Sue Lilwall organised at Jordan GreenFarm raised another £750 for the Fund. We are very grateful to Sue and all her helpers for putting on this event after what had been a very busy weekend for her, but it is gratifying that it was so enjoyable as well as financially successful. On a drier note – the Business Plan has been the focus of our attention at our last two committee meetings and is looking good and becoming quite a substantial document. We are very grateful to Lovewell Blake for agreeing to undertake putting it together for us under the ProHelp Scheme. The Planning Application has been submitted to Breckland District Council and we are now focussing on applying to the Council for a Grant towards the cost of Phase 2 of the project – “ Detailed Design” to be undertakenby Chaplin Farrant, Architects. They too have provided some support under the ProHelp Scheme. So there is a lot going on in the community and by the committee. Fund raising will be, of course, our main focus in the coming months and we continue to  look for bright ideas on what we might do, so if anyone has any please share them.

Saturday September 3rd – Bawdeswell Extravaganza

This was a very successful event and raised over £1500 towards the new hall fund.

Many thanks to Breckland Council and the Pride in Breckland Campaign for their support.

We have already booked Sunday 2nd September 2012 for an even bigger event. Put this date in your diary.

For details of the Planning Application see http://planning.breckland.gov.uk/portal/pls/portal/BRECKWEB.RPT_APPLICATION_DETAILS.SHOW?p_arg_names=reference&p_arg_values=3PL/2011/0756/F

The details and plans can be viewed on the above Breckland Web Site. Any comments from members of the public will be displayed here as well. You can also post your own comments.