The Future of Holy Trinity Church

October 30th 2006

A meeting took place on Monday 30 October 2006 in the village hall to discuss the future of Holy Trinity Church. A well attended meeting was addressed by the Venerable Hugh McCurdy, Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Wisbech, who gave the background to the church being declared unsafe and subsequently becoming redundant.

The church is home to several species of bats which would have to be provided with an alternative habitat before permission could be sought for the church’s demolition.

A lively debate then took place as to the various options for the use of the building and it’s site.

There were many views expressed, but the consensus of the meeting was that more factual information was needed on repair costs or the costs of demolition and construction of a smaller replacement building before a clear view could be reached. It was evident that large sums of money would be involved, and that this was unlikely to be viable if the building or its replacement were to be used solely for religious purposes.

The meeting felt that a combined village central resource with a long term future as a meeting place for all interest groups in the village would be an ideal objective, though there was some question as to whether the village could support a new facility as well as the existing Village Hall.

It was pointed out that, now the building no longer had an ecclesiastical use, other sources of funding might be available, to support a facility for a rural community. It was agreed more information would need to be gathered to see whether there was any likelihood of such a goal getting off the ground.

On the matter of the Church Gardens, the land behind the church formally used as allotments, the Archdeacon agreed to take this back to the Diocese of Ely to see whether the land could be released in some way for the use of the village for recreational purposes.

It was concluded that this had been a useful first meeting and that another meeting would take place in the Village Hall on Monday 19 February 2007 at 7.30 pm.

The Chairman of the Parish Council thanked the Archdeacon for coming to the village and hoped that the village could now move forward together to a mutually satisfactory conclusion.

Please note the date of the next meeting in your diaries, and anyone who was unable to attend this meeting or feel they have further ideas and support to contribute please take the opportunity to attend.