WAVE OF THEFTS IN THOMPSON

A few of us have been experiencing thefts from our properties recently – mainly from sheds and outbuildings.  A lot of the thefts are items which you might think you have mislaid or moved and are not immediately aware are missing. 

We have had the bottom of a shed door lifted out and tools taken from inside, despite there being a padlock.  Another property nearby has had all their chickens taken this week as I write (week beginning 13 February 2012), and the owners have concerns that an intruder has been on their property frequently at weekends over the past few weeks.  This is hard to prove but their dogs have become very agitated and the indicators are that someone has been on the prowl.  In another part of the village, at least two householders have disturbed people being unduly nosey around their sheds and outbuildings. You may know of other incidents.

In Caston, oil has been taken from oil tanks and this type of theft could easily spread to other villages. 

Please be vigilant and report any concerns to the police. Even though we could not be exactly certain when our property was taken the police were very helpful and have circulated details in their e-mail crime summary.  We discussed our increased security measures with them and they gave advice.  On the subject of oil tanks they advise that they are not visible from the road if possible, that they are not easily accessible and are protected as much as possible.  It is possible to purchase an alarm which goes off if the oil level drops unexpectedly quickly, such as when being syphoned off.

The more the minor and not so minor thefts are reported then the greater the likelihood is that the police will increase their presence here and stand a chance of catching the thief.  If you notice anyone or anything suspicious please report it immediately.  Some of you may not remember this, but a few years ago Brian Robertson earned a good citizen award because he noticed a suspiciously parked vehicle which he reported.  This enabled the police to catch someone attempting to burgle the school.  It may have seemed a small thing but achieved a major result. The new telephone number to contact the police on non emergency matters is: Tel: 101

Another concern of the police is the increase in telephone scams which encourage people to hand over their money for various reasons.  Advice and scam alerts can be found by following to Scams  

JANUARY 2012

THOMPSON VILLAGE HALL

At the recent meeting to plan a way forward it was felt that many people in the village, especially newer residents, might not understand the history and background of our village hall and why a new one is being proposed. 

The current village hall was built by the then Lord Walsingham in about 1890 as a reading room for the men of the village.  As times changed it became a community hall for the wider village.  Although it is not a charitable trust under the auspices of the Charity Commission it has always had appointed trustees and a committee to run it.  The committee has, for many years, been made up of representatives of every village organisation, appointed by each of those organisations. Individuals who wished to be involved have always been welcome too.  The intention is to make the committee as truly representative of the village as possible. 

A great many years ago a New Village Hall committee was formed and there have been many other such committees since.  However, it has always been the case that raising significant sums of money has proved difficult and any money raised has eventually had to be spent on maintaining the existing hall.  The hall is now no longer fit for purpose.  Many hours have been spent trying to design ways in which it could be improved to meet current disability legislation. Already the kitchen space is only suitable for providing tea and coffee and cannot support catering.  All food has to be brought in.  In order to create a disabled toilet we would have to lose most of the already small kitchen area or part of the hall, which is already barely adequate in size for village events.  To meet fire regulations it can only house 50 seated and a few more if standing.  Storage is also a problem – there is none, which means chairs and tables and other equipment take up space in an already small hall. The committee has looked at ways of extending the hall but the only land of possible use is the small area of green in front of the hall.  The hall itself has no land other than the footprint on which it stands.  It is entirely surrounded by private property. Using the frontage would further reduce parking space, which currently just holds four cars, would be visually quite unattractive and possibly detrimental to the properties on either side. We took lots of advice from all sorts of people such as the Rural Community Council, had it surveyed, had plans drawn up with ideas as to how to improve it, and so on.

The problems remained – how do we meet the Disability Act without making the hall even smaller or spoiling the appearance of the village, and should we continue to raise and spend money on a hall that was no longer meeting the demands of modern life?

When the Millennium Green was created the parish council had purchased a strip of land adjoining the school field with the express purpose of having  land which was not hide bound by Millennium Green restrictions on use.  One of these relates to fixed structures, which Millennium Greens are not permitted to have; foresight at the time had allowed for the possibility that one day the village might need a new hall and where better than attached to the Green.  The question was asked – could we sell the existing hall to help fund a new one?  Another hurdle arose when we discovered quite recently that, should the hall cease to be a community venue it would revert to the donor – the Merton estate.  So we were potentially left with no asset to assist with funding a new hall. Once again the possibilities of improving the hall were revisited but with no practical solutions.

Then, this year, the village hall was left a legacy and for the first time there was sufficient money to realistically envisage a full revamp of the existing hall or to kick-start a new build. Currently there is £30,000 in the funds.  However, while we might now have the money we still cannot find any way of making the hall meet legislation and still be of practical use.  Therefore, it is being proposed that we investigate the building of a new hall on the parish council owned land attached to the Millennium Green.