Easton Council spending thousands on village hall upkeep

Easton Parish Council is on the brink of bankruptcy and cannot afford to cover the soaring costs of the scheme, which has hit huge setbacks since work began several years ago.

It has revealed that insurance and other maintenance fees for the empty building are in excess of £26,000 a year and is now considering a "heavy hike" to council tax to support this. 

However, some councillors have expressed concern about burdening the taxpayer with these costs as it attempts to navigate its way out of this "sticky situation". 

The unfinished community centre in Marlingford Road (Image: Denise Bradley) VILLAGE HALL SHAMBLES

Easton, on the outskirts of Norwich, is one of the fastest-growing villages in Norfolk, with hundreds of new homes planned for the area.

To meet the needs of the growing population, Easton Parish Council launched its plans to build a multi-use community centre in Marlingford Road to replace its existing village hall in October 2021.

The ambitious project, to build a structure around three times the size of the existing facility, has hit several hurdles since work began. 

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The existing village hall - where parish council meetings are still held (Image: Denise Bradley) The scheme was initially forecast to cost around £1.5m but this has risen dramatically due to inflation pushing up the price of manpower and materials.

Councillors now believe it will come to a total of more than £3m.

Des Fulcher, a member of Easton Parish Council, recently revealed the authority is not in a position to repay a £500,000 loan it secured for its new community centre and has found itself in a "dire mess" as the scheme remains thousands of pounds short of its required budget.

TAXPAYER TO THE RESCUE?

It has been suggested that an increase to the slice of council tax dedicated to the parish may help to cover some of the costs related to the hall in the year ahead.

This sum is also used to finance the upkeep of playing fields and emptying dog waste bins.

Mark Caton, chairman of the council, said: "We will have to raise the precept as we have lots of extra outgoings while the hall remains empty - such as utility bills and insurance costs.

"We have to consider the additional costs we are going to incur over the coming months. We are very much in a sticky situation."

Easton village (Image: Denise Bradley) The parish council precept is currently £26,000 and locals living in band D properties pay £44 a year towards this. 

It is not clear how much this will be increased by. 

Mr Caton added: "The outgoings on the new community centre alone are in excess of the current precept and the level of debt we are carrying needs to be considered. 

"It is going to have to be a heavy hike. We don't have a financial lifeline coming from anywhere else and the building is going to sit empty for a while yet."

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The most recent meeting of Easton Parish Council (Image: Eleanor Storey) LOCALS 'KEPT IN THE DARK' 

Members of the public speaking at the most recent meeting of the council described how they felt they had been "kept in the dark" about the ongoing difficulties. 

Mr Fulcher questioned whether it was appropriate for the taxpayer to be further burdened with the cost of the project.

Councillor Des Fulcher (Image: Denise Bradley) He said: "I'm not keen on that sum being thrown on the bills of local people when there are some serious questions still to be asked about that."

However, Mr Caton reassured locals that there would be a special gathering in December to address questions raised about the new village hall. 

The councillors, most of whom were not members when the project was conceived several years ago, said they hoped to find a "positive way forward" for the village by working alongside South Norfolk Council.