Farringdon Village Hall
Charity Number: 1206624
MEMBERS NEWSLETTER No 5 — August 2025
Welcome to the Members Newsletter No 5, following the AGM in June. The Minutes from the AGM are now available on the website. Please accept our apologies for the delay but having tried and failed to find someone who could take over the website and electronic communication, three of the Trustees have entered the “university of the third age” and are learning to do this ourselves! We are now starting a “work in progress” to develop and enhance what is on the website and what we can provide to members.
Whilst the full AGM minutes are available on the membership section of the website, below is a summary of what has been happening.
Thank you for your patience!
1. First Year Summary
Farringdon Village Hall Charity has:
- Established the trust and exercised the option to purchase the land South of Marelands
- Received (eventually) the planning permission for the hall, subject to a reduced size of the hall and parking capacity
- Costed out the build: £1.5m for the whole site, of which there would be £800k for the hall itself
- Made the first applications for funding, to EHD/SDNP Community Infrastructure funds
- Had initial conversations with a number of developers with regard to the possibility of using some of the site for enabling development, which could contribute to the build cost
2. Planning
- Our planning permission is subject to conditions which have to be met prior to starting the build. Most significant is the approval of the plan for highway access (section 278 agreement). This is for dropping the kerb and building a track and wash-down area from the A32 to enable heavy traffic to enter and leave the site. Permission can take over a year; the work would then meet the requirement to “break the ground” within 36 months of receiving planning permission. Applications for grants for this were made to Community Infrastructure Levy funding at EHDC and SDNP. Sadly EHDC rejected us but we have not yet heard from SDNP. Once done though, it would increase the potential development value of the land.
The granted hours of opening are overly restrictive and we have applied to amend these in line with other village halls in the North Hampshire area.
- The trustees have made representations to amend the local plan, and bring the site within the settlement boundary, which is less restrictive on development.
3. Financials
- The charity has £200k in the bank and the value of the land (£100k) and is registered for Gift Aid. The Charity is making use of fixed term/60 day accounts which earn higher interest but with no additional risk.
4. Amending the Constitution
- We have proposed changes which will streamline and improve readability, and provide some future proofing. All amendments will require the approval of the Charity Commission.
Please send any feedback or questions to trustees@farringdonvillagehall.org
Thank you,
Your Trustees