Progress report on £1.4m hall
A progress report on plans for a new £1.4 million community hall in Lichfield is to be delivered to councillors at a meeting tonight. A progress report on plans for a new £1.4 million community hall in Lichfield is to be delivered to councillors at a meeting tonight. And the recommendation to members of Lichfield City Council is they agree to a planning application for Darwin Hall, to be built on the Darwin Park estate, be submitted. The outline scheme for the hall, to be developed on Cathedral Walk, recently went out to formal public consultation for the second time. An exhibition was staged at Waitrose supermarket, the Guildhall and the city council offices and residents were urged to attend and comment on the plans. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
A progress report on plans for a new £1.4 million community hall in Lichfield is to be delivered to councillors at a meeting tonight.
And the recommendation to members of Lichfield City Council is they agree to a planning application for Darwin Hall, to be built on the Darwin Park estate, be submitted.
The outline scheme for the hall, to be developed on Cathedral Walk, recently went out to formal public consultation for the second time.
An exhibition was staged at Waitrose supermarket, the Guildhall and the city council offices and residents were urged to attend and comment on the plans.
A total of 169 forms were returned, of which 57 per cent were from the Darwin Park/Christchurch area.
The progress report revealed overall the responses were extremely positive – although there were significant concerns regarding the level of parking being provided.
Darwin Hall will feature a large main hall with four smaller rooms.
If it gets the go-ahead, the hall's design will use sustainable technology, incorporating energy-saving features and design measures such as rainwater harvesting and natural ventilation.
The multi-use facility will provide community facilities for the thousands of residents living on the new housing estate, along with the rest of the city.
And requirements for use as a pre-school playgroup have also been incorporated.
In his report to the city council Peter Young, town clerk, said the budget for the hall remains at £1.4 million.
But although funding for the Hall is largely fixed, building costs are currently subject to inflation of around six per cent per annum, which is likely to increase even more with the knock-on effect on construction costs arising from Olympics projects.
"The costs of the £1.4million project therefore increase by approximately £7,000 per month through inflation alone, and it is imperative that the Hall project proceeds without further delay," said Mr Young.
"The plans are already prepared in sufficient detail for a planning application to be submitted."
