Thank you to everyone who responded to our Community Consultation. In addition to the discussions the Trustees had with hall users at our Open Day, 57 submissions of the survey form were received through a combination of online and paper forms. Here is an analysis of what the community told us:
How satisfied are you with the facilities we offer?
What are the great things about the Hall?
‘Other’ items listed
- The mechanical ventilation system ensuring it is Covid safe
- The fast WiFi
- The raked seating
- Competitive hire costs
- A focal point for village meetings
- Community feel
We plan to improve the Hall heating and reduce our carbon footprint by installing an air source heat pump. Do you support this initiative?
What other key improvements would you like us to make to the Hall?
We received a lot of very helpful suggestions in answer to this question. Summarised below is the feedback we received with the number of people contributing to each suggestion.
- 10 respondents talked about improving the kitchen facilities, both the Main Kitchen and the Small Hall kitchen, including a new range cooker (4 respondents) and general modernisation (including new fridges, dishwasher, china teapots, shelving, etc.
- 9 respondents mentioned the solid oak floor in the Main Hall which has developed a wavy surface during the winter and 2 particularly badly raised sections of planks [Committee note – we are addressing this as a priority issue and a specialist flooring contractor is attending on 4 April to investigate and rectify the worst of the unevenness.]
- 3 respondents mentioned the acoustics in the Main Hall, and they would like to make it easier the hear [Committee note – we already have an induction loop system, but have discovered that many modern hearing aids no longer support it, the manufacturers arguing that their devices are so good now they do not need it.]
- 3 respondents talked about the car park. It was suggested it should be marked out more clearly, or even extended into the field opposite. However one person thought we should build on it to create more meeting and exercise rooms.
How many times have you visited the Hall in the last year?
What events have you attended at the Hall during the last year?
What group activities have you participated in during the last year?
What new types of event or activity would you attend if they were available?
- Film club and/or film festival
- Ballroom dance lessons
- Musical tuition
- More arts festivals and shows
- Bridge
- Scrabble
- Arts and craft groups
- Silent disco for younger people
- Table tennis
What age group are you in?
We were initially surprised by the skew in this age profile, but on further thought realised that inevitably the people responding are likely to be the organisers of activities, e.g. Guide leaders, rather than the attendees, i.e. the Guides or Young Farmers.
Conclusions from the Consultation
We were delighted to receive a good level of satisfaction with what Wedmore Village Hall provides.
It is clear though that the ineffective heating system is a constraint on the use of the Hall in the winter months and there is very strong support in the community for replacing it with air source heat pumps.
We did not ask this question specifically, but we are also aware from discussions that in the summer months the Main Hall can become uncomfortably warm when occupied by an audience of 160 people on a hot day. A less well publicised benefit of an air source heating system is that it can equally well be run ‘backwards’ to cool the space to make it more comfortable. This would be of particular value during the Wedmore Festival which runs during the early part of the summer. What is especially attractive about this possibility is that when the comfort cooling is needed the solar panels and Tesla battery are running at their most productive levels so cost of operation is minimised.
The other major finding from the consultation is the level of demand for us to improve the kitchen facilities. This will undoubtedly be the next project that we need to embark on.
Anything more you would like to tell us?
Please use the form below if there is anything else you would like to feed back to us. We are always looking for suggestions.