N hal25

No 25: April 2011

Published by Rothay House, Mayfield Road, Eastrea.

Eastrea Village News

Latest New Hall Design

TRUSTEES now have this revised design of the new Eastrea Centre from Rose Homes, the Trust’s developers. All the elaborate design of the original hall has been lost, of course; but the overall outline and also the footprint of the building remain unaltered.

The new design utilises coated aluminium alloy panels which the manufacturers say have very high levels of insulation—both for sound and for heat. There will also be an

office and a kitchen so we can offer food and drinks to visitors. The main hall is going to be suitable for dances, gymnastics and use as a dining room for weddings and business meetings.

A separate room can house a preschool or nursery, along with special interest groups and local meetings. The Trust is also planning for a stage in the main hall which will allow Eastrea to host performances.

YOUNGSTERS WORK ON PLANS OF EASTREA CENTRE The Village Hall Trust has appointed young villagers as ‘trainee committee members’ to help finalise the plans. They are Tegan Green (11) and George Nutt (10). George and Tegan have given a PowerPoint presentation about the Eastrea Centre to new residents of the village and they will be coordinating the village hall activities for younger villagers.

Page 2

DONATIONS UPDATE Our grants now mean we are ready to roll, and await only the official permissions. Mrs Noreen Smith, Grants Liaison Officer to the Eastrea Village Hall Trust, has the following sums of money listed: £50,000 awarded to Eastrea by Fenland District Council, £20,000 from the Donarbon Trust for furnishing the hall, office and meetings room. £30,000 has also been awarded by WREN for the flooring in the main hall, equipping a state-of-the-art kitchen, and also for the costs of internal doors and plumbing. £250,000 is coming from the developers and land for the hall is given by Mr and Mrs David Garner as part of the agreement for developing their site. It has been valued at £185,000. This means that Eastrea has obtained more than half a million pounds of value in the last few years towards realising the dream for a village hall.

The Trust also has £45,000 still in our savings account and earmarked for the new building.

The Storers’ Annual Lunch This year’s Storers’ Lunch will take place, as usual, on the Tuesday and Wednesday following Easter (26 and 27 April). All Eastrea residents of state pensionable age are invited to this sociable and enjoyable event as guests of the Storers (also known as the Herds and Bulls Grass) trust. The invitation is also extended to the spouse or partner of every eligible resident. Formal invitations are currently being delivered; let us know if you should be added to the list.

EASTREA IN THE EARLY 1800s

TIMING PROBLEMS Has anybody seen Terry Charity? He works for the highways department at Cambridgeshire County Council and he is the one person who has stopped our project dead in its tracks. Last October, we submitted all the detailed drawings for the sewers and other details of the new approach road. By 2 November 2010 they were all with County Council, ready for approval. The Highways Department usually agree designs in 7-8 weeks, but this one has taken more than five months. Messages have been sent to Mr Charity at Cambridgeshire County Council, but he does not answer any of them.

Who supervises this man? Why is he being paid? How can we have him replaced? If this is where our money goes, then—as ratepayers—should we not have a say in the matter?

Never fear—if we lose out because of the delays, the Village Hall Trust will seek full compensation.

This is earliest image we have yet discovered of the village of Eastrea.

It shows the remains of Mediaeval strip farming and dates back to the time of the Enclosure Acts (about 1820). The names of many of the landholders are shown — Alice Aveling, Charles Smith, Joan Stubbins, John Simpson and Mary Lilly. Just off the picture (at the top) is listed the ‘Twenty-Ninth Private Road — called Cow Way’. It’s still there.

Contact by telephone: 350888

Email: mail@eastrea.net