Category: News

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Community Tea at St.Mark’s School

Please join us at St. Mark’s School, for a community tea, on Tuesday October 17th, from 2.00 until 3.00

We are looking forward  to ‘showcasing the school’, and the children will be working and talking about their learning.

It’s an opportunity for all villagers – young and elderly,  past parents, anyone that is interested in St. Marks School to join us.
It remains the hub of our community and we want everybody to celebrate that.

And the icing on the cake is that everyone gets tea and CAKE!

 

The lovely painting of the school, used on our publicity flyer, is reproduced by kind permission of  local resident and artist, John Eliot.

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HDCC Survey Results

8 of 10 respondents to our village survey are in support of building a new Village Hall and Sports Pavilion at the Playing Field

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey and to share their views with us. The great news is we had 131 responses to our survey which means we have a good representative sample from the parish and user groups outside of the village. The full details of the survey and all the verbatim comments can be found on the HDCC website www.newvillagehall.co.uk

 

 

Executive Summary

  • 83% of respondents agree that Hadlow Down needs a new high quality Village Hall and Sports Pavilion for use by the whole community.
  • The survey has given us plenty of evidence that supports the new proposal, particularly from a wealth of verbatim comments which are centred on the need for new modern facilities, improved access and a “community building’ for sports recreation, social events, education and entertainment.
  • Usage of our current facilities has been very similar across both sites with the village hall being used quarterly or more by 46.6% of respondents and the Pavilion 46.1% respectively within the last year. Key reasons for this low usage has been cited as poor access, limited parking, poor toilets and changing facilities in worn out/old buildings.
  • The survey data tells us that this usage would increase in the future with better facilities and a broader range of activities. Respondents want to continue with current social events but also want a New Village Hall and Sports Pavilion to provide the community with some new choices for both the old and young, such as baby and toddler groups, after school clubs, adult education classes, gardening club, community cinema, Information Technology, health and well-being, martial arts, sports coaching, art classes coffee hub, office hub etc. These make for an exciting new community space in the village.
  • There is clear support from the village community with half of the people surveyed willing to provide their personal time to progress the project in some way, offering word of mouth support, helping with door to door distribution and helping with fundraising and organising events.
  • On the other hand, there are still 17% against the proposal. Whilst these respondents currently have low usage of the current facilities their views are still important to us. Their key reasons for not supporting the proposal are that they state that the current facilities are already adequate and the new building would be too large and costly, as well as being concerned that it will bring more traffic and noise pollution to Hadlow Down. Whilst we recognise we may not change their views, we are committed to further consultation and communication for the whole community as we progress.

Continue reading “HDCC Survey Results”

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Fellowes Prynne, George H. (2nd April 1853 – 27th May1927)

The Church of St. Mark the Evangelist provides an impressive first view of the village as you approach Hadlow Down from the West on the A272.  The person responsible for its present day imposing appearance is George Halford Fellowes Prynne (1853–1927) a Victorian and Edwardian English church architect, part of the High Church School of Gothic Revival Architecture.

He was born on 2 April 1853 at Wyndham Square, Plymouth, Devon, the second son of the Rev. George Rundle Prynne and Emily Fellowes.  His elder brother was the painter Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne. He also had another brother, Albert Bernard (known as Bernard), and two sisters. His father was a well-known figure in religious circles of the time, being outspoken in his support of the revival of so-called high churchmanship in the Anglican Church and espousing the views of the Oxford Movement. Continue reading “Fellowes Prynne, George H. (2nd April 1853 – 27th May1927)”

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Hadlow Down Book Club Review – August ’23

“Life doesn’t have a narrator – it’s full of lies and half-truths – so we never know anything for sure, not really. I like that” The Temptation of Forgiveness Donna Leon (2018).

We decided to read something lighter this month, and chose Trace Elements (2020), by Donna Leon. No doubt some of you will be familiar with her long-running series, set in Venice and featuring the Commissario (Detective Superintendent) Guido Brunetti, his wife Paola and his team in the Questura (police headquarters). Continue reading “Hadlow Down Book Club Review – August ’23”

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HDCC Survey and Q&A meeting

 

Hadlow Down Community Centre (HDCC) would like to thank all respondents that have taken the time to complete our survey since the consultation period opened on 3rd July.

If you haven’t yet completed it, there is still plenty of time to give your views.

HDCC is proposing to build a new Village Hall and Sports Pavilion at the Playing Field. The new building will include a much larger main hall, more adequate storage spaces, a meeting room and modern kitchen facilities. Much needed changing facilities, showers, storage, club room and a bar are also planned. There will be parking for 43 cars, including 5 spaces for disabled users, 10 bicycle parking spaces and 20% of the car parking spaces will be fitted with electric charging points.

Methodology

Hadlow Down residents, along with Village Hall and Pavilion users, are invited to complete an on-line survey here

HDCC Survey

If you would prefer to complete a paper copy of the survey please email Geoff Gregory geoff.gregory@outlook.com or call 07936 678891
Delivery and collection will then be arranged. A pre-paid return envelope can be provided, if you would prefer to remain anonymous.

Comments will be published anonymously with the report.

Results will be independently verified and reported to parishioners in the Village Magazine, on the Village Website and on the HDCC website.

How can I give my views?

The consultation period will begin on the 3rd July and will run for a period of three weeks, closing on 24th July.

Parishioners and current user groups from both the Village Hall and Sports Pavilion are invited to respond. You can find out more about the project either on our website www.newvillagehall.co.uk  or in our latest newsletter here

Join us at our Q & A meeting

There will be a public meeting to be held in the Village Hall on Thursday 20th July (7.30 pm) which we hope will achieve several things:-

  • After the AGM held in February and the feedback we received, we would like to invite parishioners to a public meeting. HDCC would like to provide an opportunity for those concerned about the project to share their thoughts and ask any questions they may have. We ask that questions be submitted in advance  in order that we can respond fully and in detail.
  • Many of you have been wondering if the project is still alive and the meeting will enable us to reassure local people that we are attempting to move forward;
  • If we can attract new residents to the parish to attend the meeting, they will be made aware of the project and what we hope to achieve – who knows, they may want to get involved!!
  • It will give us an opportunity to encourage all those present to complete the online survey so that we get a high response level.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Q & A session, please send your questions to Mandy Chapman

mandy.chapman45@googlemail.com to arrive by 18th July

You can still submit your views until by taking our online survey here
The survey remains open until 24th July 2023