Hermitage hall to benefit from grant funds

The parish council acquired the site of the new hall, on land near the sports field off of Pinewood Crescent, from West Berkshire Council along with £225,000 to maintain the site and had applied for £250,000 from the Public Works Loan Board towards the project.
As reported in the

the chairman of the village hall committee Dr John Lawler had raised concerns about the future of the project if the parish council did not approve the grant by the April deadline.
Following an urgent meeting between the parish council, the village hall committee, the architect and quantity surveyor, parish council chairwoman Ruth Cottingham said at a recent parish council meeting that councillors now had all the evidence they needed to take out the grant and had agreed to sign a lease for the new hall.
The parish council said it would take out the loan at the beginning of this financial year.
Parish councillor Roy Marr, who sits on the village hall committee with Dr Lawler and were both excluded from the discussion, said that villagers would thank the parish council in the future.
Speaking after the meeting Dr Lawler said: “The £250,000 they are providing will be matched by the Greenham Common Trust which together with the sale of the current hall and funds raised by the village hall committee will provide a new hall for Hermitage and provide a great venue for community activity for Hermitage now and in the future.
“We have a buyer for the existing hall who will allow us to occupy it until the new one is ready and we are finalising details to placing a contract for the new hall. If all goes according to plan, the new hall to be ready early next year. This is great news for the whole village”