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Fees for the hire of facilities at the Large and Small Village Halls have gone up with effect from 1st January 2004. The Village Halls Committee chairman John Edwards said: "We believe that the Halls are a valuable community asset, but they must operate in a way that balances the books and also generates a surplus for ongoing renovations."
"The budget for the Halls is constructed on the basis of income from hirers being used to pay for the operating expenses for the Halls. Last autumn we realised that our predicted income would not match our expenditure."
Investigations as to why this was the case showed:
- a planned 5% fee increase in May 2003 had not been implemented fully
- there was confusion and misunderstanding about which facilities and rooms were being booked and used, and the amount of time they were in use, which resulted in under-charging
- the informal booking system contributed to this confusion.
During January, the Village Halls users received letters from the Committee explaining that new charges would be applied from 1st January. All regular and Hurst-based groups receive discounts on charges, but in spite of this, the St Nicholas Pre-School Playgroup fees rose by 33%.
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Hurst Village Society, is concerned that the increase in hire charges has impacted on some groups that use the Halls. "We do not want to see groups forced to stop providing the very necessary and popular services such as the Toddler and Pre-School groups. We also understand the problems that the Committee faces with increased maintenance and insurance costs, and users have to contribute towards these costs." said Nick Willson, chairman of HVS.
"The Village Halls provide an essential and superb facility for Hurst, and we would like to see individuals and groups using them to the full.
"HVS has offered to work with the committee to improve communication with users by reviewing the booking and charging processes. Sometime in the future it is anticipated that an on-line booking form will be available to simplify the process and encourage more people to use the Halls."
In recent years, the Committee has worked hard to raise over £100,000 with support from the Millennium Commission, Hurst Parish Council, Wokingham District Council, Groundwork Thames Valley, Hurst Horse Show, the Whist Club and many others.
This money has been ploughed back into capital projects such as the significant building extensions, new equipment and enhancements introduced since 1999. But the cost of re-roofing the Halls manager’s house (estimated £20,000) will be paid from the fee income.
Representatives of groups that use the Halls are welcome to join the management Committee especially anyone with project management, construction, finance and fund-raising skills.
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