South Wootton village hall re-opens
South Wootton's newly-repaired village hall is back in business and was officially re-opened on Friday.
West Norfolk borough mayor Kathy Mellish and North West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham, joined parishioners and other guests at a service and ceremony to mark the end of an unfortunate chapter in the history of the hall.
It was closed for almost a year after an inspector checking out a leaking roof in August 2006 declared that the building was unsafe.
The borough and the county council each provided a 15,000 grant towards the total of 100,000 which was estimated as the repair cost, and to help with cashflow problems the borough council has acted as "banker" to fund the balance of the costs which the parish council has to repay by June 2008.
The re-opening ceremony was an opportunity for the parish council to acknowledge the help of the local authorities which allowed the faulty roof to be replaced in a reasonably short period of time.
Deputy parish clerk, Ivan Jordan, expressed special thanks to borough portfolio holder for community David Harwood, deputy chief executive David Thomason, and grants officer Hannah Marsters, both from the borough council, and to chairman of the grants panel Gordon Dawes, and grants officer Hannah Cook, both of Norfolk Rural Community Council which administers grants on behalf of the county council.
Mr Jordan said that the work was completed on time and within budget by Lynn-based builders E.N. Suiter and Son.
"Their managing director Nick Suiter now lives in Hall Lane, South Wootton, and was able to keep a personal eye on the project," he said.
"A modern technique was employed to construct the new roof and then, following the removal of the defective roof, lifting it into place by crane and making it watertight all within the period of ten hours, on thankfully a dry day in June."
Mr Jordan added thanks to Mr Suiter and to Mr Philip Gurr, also of South Wootton, who was project manager on behalf of the parish council.
Guests at the opening were welcomed by parish council chairman Mr John Smallwood and the Rev Tony Higton said dedication prayers.
Children from South Wootton pre-school group, who are regular users of the hall, gave a display of some of their activities.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 10 C to 24 C
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