Redevelopment Community Consultation
Our purpose is to enhance the physical, mental and spiritual lives of people in our community, and to create a bridge between individuals, our local communities and local churches.
As our building grows older and the needs of our users continues to change we are preparing to redevelop the Social Centre for future generations.
We remain 100% committed to providing a building that can be used by the whole community as our primary aim. So whether that is for a children’s birthday party, an exercise class or as a place of worship we will provide a warm welcome to all. This commitment is protected for future generations in the constitution of the charity that runs the Social Centre.
The Social Centre is, in effect, now mostly run by Northchurch Baptist Church volunteers for the good of the community. During 2020 the Social Centre team and Northchurch Baptist Church teams will work together to develop plans for the future of the Social Centre. We had planned a Community Consultation meeting to look at these plans in March. We have decided, in light of current public health concerns, to hold this first consultation online.
Why redevelop the site now?
What are the benefits of a new building?
What does the new design include?
What impact will this have on local residents?
Plans
Why redevelop the site now?
• The building is facing immediate significant essential repair bills for:
o Flat roof leakages in at least three places.
o Ongoing problems with the parquet flooring that require repairs and that cause disruption to hirers.
o Rotten window frames and wooden fascia, particularly on the western side of the building.
• The building requires renovation throughout the interior over the next 3-5 years including the kitchen which is now very dated.
• It is fully occupied at several points in the week, and this discourages new hirers.
• The way community centres are being used is changing and the building is inflexible in a number of ways including the lack of a central corridor so that rooms can be used independently of each other, a lack of small and medium rooms, and slow internet connectivity.
Our current regular users include:
• Ashley Green Lace Makers
• Berkhamsted Job Club
• Community Café
• GB Dance
• Harry’s Boxing Club
• Movement and exercise
• Northchurch Baptist Church
• Northchurch Lace Makers
• Northchurch Parish Council
• Patchworking
• Rock Jam
• Sewing Bee
• Stroke Support
• Table Tennis
• U3A
This is a diverse range of hirers who require different flooring, furniture and space for each of them.
The centre is also used occasionally by:
• Charity AGMs and annual dinners
• Charity fundraising events
• Birthday parties for children and adults
• Polling station
Retaining a large hall space, and often a kitchen, is very important to all of these.
When we think ahead to our possible future users and usages, these might include:
• Community co-working (hot desking space)
• Debt advice and counselling
• Foodbank collection point
• Job club courses and training
• Partnerships with local charities
• Partnerships with health services
• Any new group started by local people…
We think that these services will help to meet the future needs of our community, which will include more older people, more people living alone and also hidden mental health problems and financial deprivation.
These services will require more individual rooms, often of a smaller size, but each with very fast internet connectivity.
Therefore, what does a new building need to provide?
• The same level of car parking.
• At least one large hall space, ideally with some flexibility.
• Separate access to all rooms (instead of access through other rooms).
• More small and medium rooms.
• Kitchen access to more than one space.
• Fast internet connection.
• Better and cheaper heating.
• Sound insulation.
• Better disabled access.
Within this we also want to create capacity for Northchurch Baptist Church to use the building for the majority of its activities as well as having capacity for the rest of the community. This does not change the community focused purpose of the building, but it would open up the possibility of NBC being a very significant funder of the new building.
What are the benefits of a new building?
• It will increase our community’s capability and resilience because more groups can operate from the building - both existing and new.
• With increased usage the building can move towards a more sustainable financial model.
• It will reduce the carbon footprint of the new building.
• It creates a physical building and financial business model that safeguards this important asset for the long term; for our children’s children and beyond…
What does the new design include?
The new design is for a building on the same site as the current building. The front of the new design would be in the same location as the front of the current building so that car parking space is maintained. However, the rear of the new building would extend over current “dead space” which is currently scrub and self-seeded trees.
The main hall would be located at the rear of the building, while at the front there would be two storeys to provide additional upstairs meetings rooms, with disabled access via a lift. In addition a café area and small chapel would be added on the ground floor.
The result would be a building which increases only slightly in external dimensions, but which has significantly more meeting spaces for different users inside.
What impact will this have on local residents?
The design process has very been mindful of local residents’ needs. We have looked at roof height, in particular, and have kept it low enough to ensure that it it is not overbearing for local residents’ homes. We are submitting the plans to Dacorum Borough Council for a Pre-Application assessment. This allows us to get feedback from the council very early before committing to a formal planning application, so that we can improve the plans.
You can access the plans here:
- Side elevations comparing existing with proposed building
The purpose of this consultation is to hear about the needs and opinions of users and local residents. You can submit your feedback either via info@northchurch-social-centre.co.uk or in writing instead.
This consultation will close on Friday 17th April after which we will compile the results.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and take part.