News
Herongate Village Hall – Letter from Greg Campbell – Director Policy & Delivery Brentwood Borough Council
Herongate Village Hall is situated on the A128 to the front area of The Green Man Pub. It was originally built for local community use, however, since 2006 when there was no longer a recognisable Trust in place – the building has fallen into disrepair.
Those who were part of the Trust had either passed away or no longer wanted to be part of the Trust. This has meant no action has been able to be taken on the future of the Hall. In order to resolve the situation, Brentwood Borough Council has been working with local ward Councillors and the Parish Council. Brentwood Borough Council sought legal advice in order to rectify the situation and bring the situation to a position that allows a decision on the future of the building to be made.
The salient points regarding the legal position of ‘ownership’ and ‘decision making’ to consider are as follows:
- Brentwood Borough Council own the freehold of the above land and building (the property). The property was transferred to Brentwood Council on 3 April 1979. The Trustees appointed Brentwood Council to act as Custodian Trustee and Brentwood Borough Council therefore should oversee the Trust being run in accordance with the Trust powers and provisions.
- Brentwood Borough Council cannot dispose of this land without the consent of the Charity Commissioners or the Registrar.
- The property is subject to a restrictive covenant not to redevelop the property; if the current building is demolished, then the land needs to become Common Land to be used for recreation, amusement, convenience and exercise of the inhabitants of Herongate and Ingrave ward. The Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance Limited have the benefit of this covenant.
- The village hall can only be used by the inhabitants of Herongate and Ingrave for any political, religious or other opinions, including use of the property for meetings/lectures/classes or any other form of recreation/leisure.
- The objects and powers of the Trust are to be administered by the Trustees Management Committee, as Charitable Trustees.
- The Committee are responsible for the repairs of property and responsible for insuring the buildings, fixtures and public liability.
- The Committee, with the consent of the Charity Commissioners or Secretary of State, mortgage the property for maintaining, extending or improving the property, including erecting any building thereon or internal works (bear in mind the covenant over the land is not breached by such proposals).
- The Committee can decide on ground of expense or otherwise to discontinue use of the property, they need to call a meeting of the inhabitants of Herongate and Ingrave ward by least a 14 day notice period, by Notice which must state details of the resolution) inviting inhabitants who are 18 or over to attend the meeting to vote and the resolution has to be supported by 3/4 of those inhabitants voting and attending the meeting. The Notice must be posted at the property and advertised in the local paper. Any decision to demolish will require the Committee to grass over the site of demolition.
Following legal advice and the continued poor state of the building, Brentwood Borough Council applied to the Charity Commission to enable Brentwood Borough Council to become custodians and therefore take decisions on the Hall moving forward. With the assistance of the Parish Council and Ward Members, the Council undertook the process and advertised the fact Brentwood Borough Council were applying to be the future decision maker for the hall. The Charity Commission earlier this year confirmed the approval of this request.
The next stage is to now determine what we do with the Hall moving forward. Previously, it had been indicated that the Parish of Herongate and Ingrave had enough halls and that there was no requirement for a further hall. At present there appears to be no reason to challenge this view and therefore Brentwood Borough Council would be seeking to take the decision to demolish the hall and return the land to a natural grassed area and common land in accordance with the Covenant.
However, before this decision is made the Council would like to offer the opportunity to the local Parish Council and local residents to make alternative suggestions for the use of the Hall. In order to do this, the Council will be attending a future meeting of the local Parish Council to set out how the Parish Council, group or person may apply to take on this building. However please note the building is restricted by covenants as to what anyone can do to the building in terms of extending or reshaping and what it can be used for.
Therefore, any proposals that require demolition, rebuild, extension, relocating the footprint etc would require an application to be made to the Diocese and the charity commission. This may also require further planning permission from the local authority depending on what is being applied for.
Again, following legal advice, the options for the hall appear to be one of the following:
- Repair the Hall and reinstate usage in accordance with the trust deed;
- Repair the Hall and change usage to commercial use with the consent of the Charity Commissioners/planning permission and lifting of the covenants; or
- Demolish the building and revert to Common land in accordance with the covenant.
Officers of Brentwood Borough Council intend to meet with the Parish Council and residents at a future meeting to discuss these options and answer any questions the Parish Council or local residents may have regarding this building. The meeting is to be held in September 2023 date and venue to be confirmed.
Please also note that besides any planning approval that may or may not be required that any decision or recommendation will require Brentwood Borough Council Committee agreement.
I hope this helps explain the present situation and I hope we can reach a decision on the future of the building soon.
I would like to express my thanks to the ward members, past and present, the Parish Council and Adrian Tidbury an officer of Brentwood Borough Council for the hard work in bringing the information on the Hall together.
FREE HOME FIRE SAFETY VISITS
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service are offering FREE Home Fire Safety advice, including the installation of FREE smoke alarms where needed, to all of our community.
All our residents have to do is to book a visit from one of their highly trained Technicians, using the contact details on the attachment HOME FIRE SAFETY VISIT.
ESSEX POLICE RESPONSIBILITIES
The details of responsibilities of the Essex police can be seen here.
ESSEX POLICE RESPONSIBILITIES LEAFLET
ALL SAINTS CHURCH
All Saints Church of East Horndon is the red brick church standing proud up on the hill above the Halfway House at the junction of the A127 and the A128. Whilst it has been redundant since the 1970’s it is still used for special occasions throughout the year and now desperately needs your help! The grounds around the church contain many historical graves but unfortunately brambles and weeds have consumed much of what was once a well-tended sacred area. To this end the ‘Friends of All Saints Church’ are trying to find local people to offer a few weekends throughout the year to help keep the grounds under control. All you would need to bring is a pair of secateurs and gardening gloves as drinks and cakes would be provided! The first day of action is hopefully going to be in the coming weeks so to chat more about offering some help please call Ian Peters on 01277 812973. To find out more about the church please log on to all-saints-east-horndon.co.uk/
JUBILEE ORCHARD AWARD
Herongate and Ingrave Parish Council was awarded a certificate from the Essex Wildlife Trust for our valued contribution towards Living Landscapes in Essex on the planting of the Jubilee Orchard. We are the first Council to receive such an award. Our thanks goes to Alan Kingsford for co-ordinating this project and applying for the award. The certificate can be seen here. ESSEX WILDLIFE CERT
PARISH COUNCIL NEWSLETTERS
See the latest newsletter by selecting “Latest Newsletter” from the menu on the left.
See the archive of newsletters here.