Lamarsh Village Hall : Proposal Assessment Form

Lamarsh Village Hall : – Proposal Assessment Form

Name: Nigel Morgan

1 Please outline your idea:

The idea is to do whatever is necessary to retain ownership of the Village Hall until such time as the Lamarsh Lion’s viability is clearly established –for example, one would like to seethe pub trading profitably for at least three years. This would avoid closing off an optionto consider whether the Village Hall might makea possible smaller, much more manageable community pub (“The New Lamarsh Lion”!!). It would give the Villagea “Plan B” should the need arise.

In the meantime, a use would need to be found for the (now redundant) Village Hall that would at least enable it to cover its costs. Since community bookings are effectively nil – a situation which has already persisted for a long time– such a use can only be commercial. Moreover, since the Village wants to avoid spending other than the bare minimum for upgrades and repairs, we need to find a use that, basically, requires no heating, little lighting and minimal use of the septic tank. Commercial storage could fit these requirements (butthe consultation could yield other suggestions).

The useable space for commercial storage provided by the Village Hall is approximately 30’ x 15’ = 450 sq ft (after deducting a bit for access gangways etc).

Let us suppose that the occupancy of this space averages at 200 sq ft for 50 weeks per annum.

Commercial storage charges vary widely (I looked at Titan, Storage Mart and Glasswells), and somewhere in the region of £0.50 to £1.00 per sq ft per week looks to be the norm – but we could only charge at the lower end of this range given that 24-hour supervision could not be offered.

So, if we were to charge just £0.50 per sq ft per week then the above arrangement would generate an income of some £5000 per annum.

In addition, the Village Fete could continue to support the Village Hall, but at a reduced level which might amount to (say) £1000 per annum.

2 Approximately what is the cost (factoring in the £80,000 needed for repairs if the current building is to be used)?

A) Building repairs/ renovations

Let us assume that minimal repairs/renovations would wipe out one year’s rent – £5000 – as a one-off cost (ie that spending the £80,000 could be avoided if we were only considering a proposed 3-year period).

B) Running costs

Assume these amount to fire & security, water, electricity and grass cutting – ie about £1000 pa.

C) Insurance etc

We would need to get quotes for this, but assume double the present cost for the time being – ie £1000 pa.

D) Other - Advertising

Our Village Hall storage facility would need effective advertising. I have little idea what might be a realistic budget, but am suggesting £500 pa for budgetary purposes.

Therefore totalrunning costs could be in the region of £2500 pa.

3 How will these funds be raised (and time period)?

It is assumed that all costs wouldeffectively be paid out of income – although some temporary pre-funding from existing Village Hall funds could be necessary.

4 What are the staffing needs ?

Staffing would be needed to take bookings for storage, admin/billing and to supervise the placement and removal of stored items. It is assumedthat a sufficient number of villagers would come forward to provide these services voluntarily on a rota.

5 What is the benefit to the village?

The short-term benefit to the village would be to provide a fallback “Plan B” option should the Lamarsh Lion project prove unviable and have to be wound up.

The longer-term benefit would arise from the eventual sale of the Village Hall to provide funds for other community projects – for example the further development of the Lamarsh Lion once a specific need or needs had been clearly established. Many possible ideas for such development come to mind – eg a really nice garden dining area with pergolas and provision for children, aself-contained community meeting room, self-catering “chalet-style” overnight accommodation, a community shop, a micro-brewery etc etc.

6 Possible stumbling blocks

However, in the sad event that the Lamarsh Lion project did not prove viable, it cannot yet be assumed that this Plan B would necessarily gain all required approvals. In particular, enough of the shareholders in the existing Lamarsh Lion Community Pub Ltd would need to agree to transfer their investments to a replacement pub based on the Village Hall, change-of-use and planning permission would need to be obtained and there would no doubt be other hurdles to clear. On the other hand, national and local government policies are very much in favour of community projects, and one would hope that these policies could offer a way forwardwhen fully investigated(should the need arise).

It is assumed that permission for change-of-use of the Village Hall to commercial storage would either be granted for a temporary period or not required since this proposed use would only be for a short period.

On a practical point, the Village Hall doorway is only 785mm wide, so this would somewhat restrict what could be stored (eg no pallets).

Also, the storage contracts would have to have a fixed end-date so that the whole space could be cleared ready for the next step (which could be the sale of the building).

7 What revenue could this generate?

Over (say) a 3-year period, the income would be 3 x £5,000from commercial storage charges plus 3 x £1000 from the Village Fete, amounting in total to £18,000 over that period.

In the same period, costs would be a one-off £5,000 for minimum repairs plus 3 x £2500 for running costs amounting to £12,500 in total.

Therefore, under the assumptions outlined above, this idea looks as though it could return a surplus of £5,500 in total over a three-year period. It therefore looks just about viable under the somewhat pessimistic assumptions chosen.

ooOoo

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12th September, 2017-Lamarsh VH Idea