Welcome to our Stanton St Quintin village site!

More News on the Church/Village Hall.

For the past few years, your Parish Council and representatives of St Giles church have been working together to find a solution for the Church Hall.

As you may know, your Parish Council obtained a report on the condition of the Stanton St Quintin Church Hall written for them by Ian Rea of A1 Planning Services, Hullavington.  The report concluded, that with some refurbishment we could turn this back into a viable village hall which is part of our history – having been built by the villagers in 1938 on land given to the Church by farmer Worthy Tanner.   Whilst at one moment, the Parish Council (PC) were considering buying land and building a new hall, this quickly became impossible due to the recession and we felt it to be wrong to encumber future generations with repaying the loans, even if they could be obtained.  The Precept was put up to raise money for a village hall and there is £40,000 in the bank for this purpose.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC), who is the legal owners of the Hall, consulted the Diocese of Bristol and the Charity Commissioners. This was quite a drawn out process, but they have at last been given permission to consult their own Estate Agent to suggest a viable rent, given the state of the building and the refurbishment costs.  The Parish Council set up a small subcommittee, joined by our vicar, Rev. Christopher Bryan, who have been instrumental in gathering all the information to put to you.  This committee considered that the negotiated rental per annum, £500 was a fair rent for both parties, and this is likely to be approved both by the Diocese and the Charity Commissioners.

We have already received names from some villagers willing to sit on a Hall Management committee and, should the consensus be to go ahead with the project, we hope that there will be many more willing to join them.  The Stanton Hall (this would be the trading name) would be run quite separately from the PC and the PCC with the Management Committee being responsible for the lease.  The lease would run for at least 35 years with the church having a small number of set times for its own use, free of charge.  The Parish Council would donate suitable amounts of money from the ring fenced £40,000 for the refurbishment.  We hope that there will be volunteers from the village community willing to get together to do some of the work.

The PCC and PC have considered all the different possible ways of providing a future for the Hall. Charity Law constrains us in terms of what can be done, and this proposed solution is the only viable way of keeping the hall open. If this agreement does not proceed, or a Management Committee is not formed, then the PCC will be forced, under Charity Law, to sell the Hall to the highest bidder.

We really want to keep this asset available for the community and support the growth of village life within Stanton St Quintin. To do so, we need volunteers to be part of a proactive and enthusiastic Management Committee,. We also need volunteers who might be able to do some of the practical refurbishment and maintenance work. If you can help in any way, please contact Don Sugden 720741;

clanvillemowers@gmail.com

We would be very happy to answer any questions you may have. In order to get a sense for the level of support in the village, we’d be grateful if you could please fill in the form below:

Cara Voelcker, on behalf of the Parish Council

Rev’d Christopher Bryan, on behalf of St Giles Parochial Church Council

Brett Conway, on behalf of the Parish Council

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Are you in favour of renovating and retaining our village hall?       Yes    or    No (please circle choice)

Would you be willing to sit on the Hall Management Committee?                Yes    or    No

Signed: ………………………………………………………..         Dated:  …………………………………..

Please send your reply to either 

Don Sugden   -  clanvillemowers@gmail.com  Tel:  01249 720741

Emma Walker - emwalker2@btinternet.com   Tel: 01666 838770

Ros Whiting    -  ros.whiting@btinternet.com  Tel: mob 07835227215

Parishioners please can we all re-double our efforts on the recycling of our domestic rubbish and encourage others to do the same. Last financial year the Land Fill tax levied against our local council and paid for by each and everyone's council tax from this parish was as much as £50 per tonne. This led to a total cost in excess of £4.9 million of our money being sent straight to central government at Westminster. Next year the Land Fill tax will be raised to £80 per tonne and with the increasing amounts of domestic rubbish being generated it is very possible that £8+ million of local money will be wasted in going straight to central government. The council has issued wheelie Bins for 1) general rubbish 2) Cardboard and Plastic Bottles 3) Garden rubbish bins will be issued in Feb/march 2012 4) The small Black box for collection of paper, cans and glass. If we all think about re-cycling then we can make a significant contribution to saving some of the millions we may pay in central government tax.