Members of Launton Parish Council were delighted to hear that their planning application for improvements to the Parish Hall has been granted permission by Cherwell District Council.
This gives the green light for substantial improvements to the hall to bring it up to modern standards, providing new facilities and enhancing the energy efficiency of the building. An old side extension will be demolished and replaced, to provide a new catering style kitchen. The building will be re-roofed with zinc, a tough, natural and recyclable material. PV Solar panels will generate electricity with the potential for battery storage. And replacement windows and doors will help to stop drafts and keep in the heat.
We have guided the Parish Council and Hall Working Group through the steps towards achieving planning permission, and look forward to being of further assistance when funding is available to carry out the improvements.
3D Visualisation of Improvements to Launton Parish Hall
We were very pleased last week to be invited to attend the
forthcoming Haddenham Annual Parish Meeting, and particularly delighted this
year because it will take place within the newly refurbished Parish Centre. Our
recent project to improve the Parish Council offices at the Village Hall has
transformed the space.
Haddenham has seen considerable
development in recent years, with new homes, employment sites and leisure
facilities all being constructed in the village. Consequently, Parish
Council activities were becoming ever-busier and the need for administration
resourcing had increased. Staff had outgrown their under-sized office, and the
entrance lacked a reception area making it unsuitable for accepting visitors; there
had become an urgent need to improve it.
A former Day Centre within the
village hall had been closed for some time; an outdated lounge area also had
two large supporting pillars restricting the layout. We designed a
reconfiguration and renovation of existing internal spaces to deliver rooms
that will enable the Parish Council to continue operating effectively as the
village expands. A re-utilisation of space is a cost-effective and
environmentally sound way of achieving an objective like this; building
materials are kept to a minimum, but structural alterations enable the building
to be upgraded to a modern specification, and at the same time the opportunity
is there to deliver more efficient heating, insulation, lighting and storage.
At the same time, the dilapidated flat roof was repaired and the external
facades of the whole building were decorated.
Staff and Parish Councillors have
embraced the new Parish Centre, which includes
a dedicated smart entrance doorway and reception hatch, and a conference room
large enough to seat the whole Parish Council in comfort. Haddenham Parish
Clerk Sue Gilbert commented: “Our smart Parish Centre is great to work in, and
finally we have an office and meeting room which is fit for purpose. We are
delighted with the transformation. We have worked together with PCMS Design on
a number of feasibility and construction projects, and have always been
delighted with the great service and support that we’ve received.”
