Renovation
Preparing for Building Work
Work to extend the Scout Hut got underway on Saturday 27th November.
The temporary storage container arrived on the Friday and a brave group of parents, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts turned out in the snow to empty the garages and storeroom into the container.
The volunteers also successfully demolished the garages so all that is left is for the debris to be removed.
It was a very successful day so thanks to all those who turned out to help.
Scout Hut Building Project
Dear parents
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I write with some details of the long awaited extension project to our Scout Hall.
Chevin Community Centre
As many of you will know, for some time we have been planning the construction of an extension to our existing meeting hall. This will provide us with two new meeting rooms, an enlarged kitchen, indoor toilets and a garage that will also double as a store room. After huge efforts by lots of people in planning and fund raising for the new building, we are now in a position to finally make a start and building work is expected to begin at the start of December.
We now have artistic impressions of the proposed development of the Scout HQ (click on each image for a larger view)
Also, these are the full size plans (in pdf format) of the current building and the proposed development:
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I write with some fantastic news for our Scout Group. I have today received notification from Leeds City Council that the planning applications recently submitted have been approved by Leeds City Council (see the attached letters). This is fantastic news and a decision has been received far quicker than we expected. I understand that the council received a huge amount of support for the application from parents and supporters of the Scout Group and it made the decision almost academic. There have been some very minor changes to the original designs which we were more than happy to accept.
I'd like to thank all of you who have taken the time and effort to write to Leeds City Council on our behalf. For many of the longer serving members of the Scout Group (myself included) it has taken a long time to get to this point and an awful lot of hard work. There is still much hard work ahead of us with the fund raising effort which will now take full effect as this was one of the key issues holding up our applications to grant awarding organisations. For now though we will raise a glass for the achievement of getting the planning application from the Council!
Finally I'd like to thank Richard Keal, parent of one of our Cubs Daniel Keal, for his efforts in progressing this planning application on our behalf. Richard runs Janus Architecture in Idle, Bradford and has used his professional expertise to prepare and amend the plans for the Scout Hut on many occasions as more ideas have flowed into the design for our new look building. The plans look fantastic and I hope we can now move onwards now by raising the funds necessary to commence the building work and make our headquarters building reflect the strength of Scouting that happens there every week.
As some of you may have noticed, we have recently displayed plans for the refurbishment and redevelopment of our Scout Headquarters. This has been a long term project for the Scout Group and our efforts to bring our thoughts and plans to a reality have taken a few steps forward recently as negotiations with Leeds City Council, the landlord to our premises, have resulted in agreement in principle for a lease of 25 years that will allow us to make the improvements we have planned for so long.
The process is hopefully going to move to the next stage in the next month or so as we are looking to submit a planning application. We have received an awful lot of support from Richard Keal, parent to Daniel in Cubs, whose firm Janus Architecture has kindly designed the plans that some of you will have seen. Richard is in the process of preparing the planning application.
In order to ensure we have the best possible chance an application being approved, we are trying to pre-empt any issues before hand and have entered into dialogue with the Council to assess the plans we have drawn up. Additionally, we are to consult with our neighbours to address any queries and concerns they may have before the application is submitted and any modifications that we need to make can be done before submitting the application.
As part of the consultation with neighbours, we are planning to hold a viewing of plans evening in our Scout Headquarters this Thursday at 8pm to which our neighbours and the local councillors have been invited. We potentially have one or two neighbours who may need to be won round in supporting our plans and this is where I would like to request the help of all parents. If you are able to be at the Scout Headquarters on Thursday at 8pm, this will be an opportunity to ask any of the leaders or parents who
have been involved with the planning any questions about the project. It would be very helpful to have as many supportive parents in the building as possible as this may help our neighbours appreciate how much this project means for the future success of our Scout Group and the activities we are able to offer on meeting nights.
The meeting will take place at 8pm and you are free to stay for as long as you can manage.
We are also in need of some moveable displays, either freestanding display boards or flipchart boards that can be used to display copies of the architect's plans. If anyone has access to any of these, please do let me know either by email or call me on 07886 352000.
I have attached a copy of the plans, one showing the existing building and the plans marked with blue outline showing the planned extension. Clearly viewing the plans in the Scout Headquarters will allow you to see greater detail.
Existing Plans (click for bigger)
Proposed Plans (click for bigger)
If anyone has any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on the above number.
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