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Herongate & Ingrave Parish Council

Clerk: Mrs Stephanie Robinson
The Dower House, 135-139 Billericay Road, Herongate, CM13 3SD
M: 07512 078975
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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:

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:

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

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