Although the decision had been taken to change the status of the Reading Room to that of a Village Hall, prior to initial refurbishment and making use of the recreation ground and school playground (for parking), such steps required significant efforts by the Steering Group, given the number of parties involved and the various covenants and trustees. That complexity also meant that attempts to secure grant funding in key areas were also far from straight-forward.
It was essential that villagers we kept informed on progress, and were given a chance to give their thoughts, so a questionnaire was circulated in 1998, as discussed in the Village Newsletter.
It was decided to start local fundraising in parallel with the legal work, so an organising group was formed, a topic discussed in the Village Newsletter of October 1998.
The responses to the questionnaire were summarised thus
(It is interesting to note that all of the above suggestions for the use of the Village Hall seem to have come to fruition in the years following the opening).
Work to formalise ownership / and align the various trustees of the land and buildings continued over the millennium period. Fundraising and applications for Grants similarly continued in parallel.
A progress update at the end of 1998 highlighted progress – but also ongoing issues
The fundraising efforts helped move the project forward, with additional, but necessary legal fees discussed in the Trustees Report to the Village Newsletter of September 1999 – which also reported further challenges regarding the integration of the land assets.
Later in 1999 a further Village Meeting was called to update villagers on progress and listen to their inputs.
A final report in 1999 summarised that public meeting.
Moving into the new Millennium, the challenges with formalising ownership continued, as referenced in a progress report of October 2000.
By 2001 things seemed like they were finally beginning to move.
In addition, the overview plans for a Village Hall were published in the Village Newsletter.
