19 July 2011
At its Cabinet meeting of 18th July, Braintree District Council has agreed a capital investment of £88,500 to improve the heating system and kitchen at Silver End Village Hall.
The decision follows repeated calls by Green Councillors representing Silver End for such investment and a year long wrangle over the future of the hall which included the imposition of huge hire fee hikes, then their withdrawal, the closure of a pre-school group, a Scrutiny Inquiry into unfounded threats of closure and then the failure of the heating system during the coldest part of last winter.
Having secured assurances about the future of the hall earlier this year, during the May elections James Abbott and Bob Wright then made investment in the hall a key election pledge, which was well supported by residents on the doorstep.
Cllr. James Abbott, District Councillor for Silver End said
"We welcome the Cabinet investment decision and the assurances that the heating system will be improved before the onset of winter.
We also thank the new Cabinet Member for Community Halls who met with me and toured the building, meeting user groups and talking to us about our requests for improvements to make the hall more user-friendly.
It is a complete change from last year and the threats and uncertainty which caused such concern in Silver End.
We now feel that the future of the hall, which is really the community centre for the village, is much more secure. The investment will deliver a reliable and more efficient heating system as well as much needed improvements to the kitchen which the users have themselves requested.
If the previous Cabinet Member had listened and taken this approach, we could have avoided the difficulties of the last year and could have had the improvements already in place.
Now looking to the future, we have an opportunity to make the village hall an even better facility for the village, a true community hub (1) offering more facilities and opportunities."
Notes: (1) Silver End Village Hall is believed to be the largest in England. It was built as an integral part of the Crittall factory garden village design and was given to the village in 1931. It has 2 storeys and includes the Children's Centre and Crittall Social Club upstairs and 3 halls downstairs plus other rooms used by many local groups and organisations.
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