Springfield Parish Council

Community - Springfield Parish Centre

A parcel of 1 acre of land became available in North Springfield which was owned by the Essex County Council. Unfortunately it had outline planning permission for housing and the Parish Council had to pay ‘housing prices’ for the land - £300,000. The Essex County Council allowed the Parish Council to pay for this over a three year period at £100,000 a year (interest free). Prior to this the Parish Council sent a letter to every household in the Parish saying what was intended as it would mean a considerable increase in the precept. There were very few objectors.

The three years taken to buy the land was not wasted. An active committee of the Parish Council was formed and it was their task to work closely with the Essex County Council who did extensive feasibility work on our behalf. The Parish Council sent out questionnaires to anticipated user groups and canvassed the area as far as possible.

In March 1997 the Parish Council and Essex County Council staged a Public Consultation showing proposed plans for the new hall and offices and invited those visiting to complete a questionnaire on what sort of facilities they would like to see.

Following continued support the Parish Council visited a number of Village Halls in Essex and talked to Management Committees and noted good and bad points in venues.

Advice was sought from the Chelmsford Borough Council, Essex County Council, Public Works Loan Board, Essex Association of Local Councils and Millennium Commission regarding funding the project.

A decision was taken early on to employ a Project Manager and the Chelmsford Borough Council supplied names of Project Managers on their Approved List.

The Parish Council invited three companies to give a presentation to the Parish Council following an Outline Brief. A representative of the Essex County Council was at the presentation in order to ask technical questions and advise the Parish Council.

Once the Project Manager was appointed (Low & Low of Danbury) the Parish Council decided to use their in house Architect to design the building and also to use their in hour Planning Supervisor. Low & Low and The Livemore Partnership therefore managed and supervised the project.

Regular meetings took place (sometimes weekly) with the Parish Council Committee and the Management Team.

Borrowing Approval was obtained through the Essex Association of Local Councils in two tranches of £500,000. Two loans of £500,000 were arranged with the Public Works Loan Board.

It was decided not to apply for Lottery funding as the Parish Council would not have much change of being successful. The goal posts had changed and the Parish Council was not a voluntary body. The Essex County Council could not give us a grant. However, the Parish Council were successful in securing a grant for the Chelmsford Borough Council towards to car park - £21,300.

By this time the Parish Council had a very clear brief for the Architect and following on from all the information that had been gathered The Livemore Partnership drew up further plans and a Presentation was made to the Full Parish Council and Public in September 1997.

A planning application was submitted in October 1997 and it would be fair to say that this was not plain sailing. One or two vociferous residents raised objections at every point possible and there were delays in amending plans and actually getting the plans to committee. However, planning permission was obtained.

In the meantime the Project Managers had prepared the documents to put the scheme out to tender for the Main Contractor – again using a recommended list of contractors. Once the Main Contractor was appointed (DCH) then we went out to tender for Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. All these matters were overseen by the Project Manager.

Building started on the 44 week contract and the Committee had regular meetings with the Project Team throughout. Building finished on time and within the budget of £1million.

The Parish Council decided that it wanted to run and manage the Centre itself as opposed to having a Village Hall Management Committee. A full-time Community Development Manager was appointed in May 1999 to actually get the Centre up and running. This has been very successful and there is a full and varied programme in operation.

Conflicting information was received from Customs and Excise regarding the Parish Council’s VAT situation on the building (not being a voluntary body). The Parish Council employed, and is still employing, a specialist Local Authority VAT expert to safeguard our position. This has been money well spent!