Helpston and Etton villagers surveyed over plans to replace ‘First World War’ village hall

Villagers are being asked for their thoughts after plans were unveiled to replace a well-used community facility.

A survey has been sent out to residents in Helpston and Etton to gage support for a new village hall and what they would like to see feature in it.

Helpston Parish Council tasked the village hall committee to find a site for a new hall to replace the current building - a former Canadian military hut which dates back to the First World War.

The wooden hut was donated to the villages by the Fitzwilliam family and has occupied its current West Street site since the end of the Great War.

“A new modern, multi-functional hall is essential for the villages,” said village hall committee treasurer Tony Henthorn.

“Helpston has witnessed significant housing growth over the past few years and we should look to provide a community facility which offers a multitude of benefits to all age ranges.”

Tony is also involved in a community bid to buy the village pub, the Bluebell Inn, which is currently on the market.

The hall’s current West Street site is owned by the Fitzwilliam Estate who leased it to the village on a ‘peppercorn’ rent.

The lease has now run out and several alternative sites have been earmarked.

But thoughts of tying a new hall in with future housing developments in Helpston have been rejected, according to the survey.

“Whilst it may have been tempting to accept land offers from potential developers for a new hall, the village hall committee have resisted those offers on the basis that we believed unlocking housing development would not be a price the village would be prepared to pay,” it states.

The cost of the project, including buying land and building, is estimated to be around £800,000.

A silent auction was launched this month to raise money for the project and would be supplemented by other fundraising activities, grants and long-term loans.

It hosts regular fitness and dance classes, parties and events, as well as parish council meetings, but Tony said use of the current village hall is ‘limited’ by its size, lack of parking and internal facilities.

As well as the survey, follow-up consultation meetings will be held in the coming months.

“There are many moving parts in the project and so it is difficult, at this stage, to put a completion date in the calendar,” he added.