Mawsley Village Centre

Village Hall Steering Group Report

Here's the latest on The Centre at Mawsley..

Progress (is it?)

As most of you are probably aware, the fabric of the building is now complete. However, there are significant additional works to be 'discussed' with the Borough Council and Wimpey, before we are content that The Centre is totally complete. For example; there should be additional parking provided down the edge of what will be the sports field; there should be footpath access to the main door. I suppose this represents large scale versions of the problems many of us have faced moving into new properties.

Stamp Duty

Discussions are still going on between the Borough Council and the Inland Revenue. Until this is resolved we won't get possession of the building. Regarding Stamp Duty: The latest position, we understand from the Council, is that this duty may not be payable. (please cross your fingers for this)

Fitting Out

We have made the majority of plans to fit out the centre and are just waiting for the transfer of ownership to take place before we place any firm orders for equipment. We have made a licence application (saving about £1,000 by the DIY route rather than using a solicitor).

Usage

We have a working draft of a usage policy to ensure The Centre is able to offer the best facilities for the village as a whole. WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ALL GROUPS that we know exist in the village that may wish to use The Centre. Thank you to the groups listed below for registering their interest:

Youth group
Pre-School group
Under 5's group
Scouts
Girl Guides
Mawsley Music Makers
WI
Christians in Mawsley
Tai Kwondo Lessons
Keep Fit (various flavours)

Meeting time for: The Centre's Management Committee, The Parish Council and The MVA Committee

It would be useful if you could let us know any preferred day/s and time/s you would like to use the building and what space and facilities you would need so we can plan to accommodate you.

At this stage it is impossible for us to guarantee meeting any group's specific requests. However, everyone is welcome and will get to use The Centre. Once we actually own the building, we will be in a better position to discuss with individual groups their particular requirements.

Open Day & OPENING

We also plan to hold an "open day" so you can all see inside the building. Unfortunately we can't fix a date for this until we know when we will get possession, however it will be as soon as possible, ideally before we start work on fitting out.

The leasing arrangements etc with the Parish Council are still in discussion. However, we still do not know when Wimpey will transfer The Centre to KBC and on to MPC.

It is impossible to be certain of any firm timescales when it comes to resolving issues with Wimpey & KBC. Our best guess is that we will not have The Centre fully operational before April.

The Centre STILL needs YOU !

We have received some response to the appeal for help and I thank those who have expressed interest. However, we still need more.

For paid and volunteer cleaning and caretaking work or to simply help us through the 'setting-up' period contact Graham Leah (799200) (graham@tuitus.com), Bob Littler (791447) (boblittler@btconnect.com) or Chris Winter (790375) (Chriswinter@btinternet.com).

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