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July Message from our Rector Mark

23 June 2019

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A Letter from our Rector, Mark:

St Michael’s Rooms

The Rooms have served the community of Framlingham amazingly well for about 130 years. We now have choices to make about them. If they continue we will have to patch them up and over a number of years this could become very expensive – but it remains a possibility.

As many of you know we have been exploring the possibility of redeveloping The Rooms using a Community Infrastructure Levy grant. This is money from the developers of the new houses given to benefit new (and old) residents of the town.  Originally the Town Council was going to lead the project which would have involved the PCC leasing the land to the Town Council, but their legalities and ours meant that this became very difficult to resolve.  Instead it is suggested that the money goes to the PCC but we would need to find some money as well.

£700,000 from East Suffolk Council (as it now is):

£70,000 from the PCC:

£70,000 maximum match funding from the Town Council.

The architect reassures us that £840,000 will produce a very nice building with a hall of about the same size, a smaller meeting room for about 20 people, kitchen, storage, toilets, disability accessibility, eco-friendly, andan administrative office.  This would actually provide more resources for the town.  We would also need to look at car parking issues which might cost some money.

The Town Council and the PCC would like to invite you to come to the Town Council meeting on 4th July to hear the presentation the PCC reps will be giving. 

Why do it all? Because we have a lovely resource in land in the centre of town which we want to offer for the use of the town.

Part of the challenge has been to meet the charitable purposes of the original gift of the land in a way which meets the charitable expectations. We hope this might prove to be a way.

The PCC will need help and will have to make an appeal if both the Town and District Councils give us their agreement. But what an opportunity! Please pray for the project, for July 4th, and support on the day and in the future. More information will follow if all goes well.

Mark.

St Michael’s Church News:

Let there be new lights!

The high level lights in the chancel were recently replaced with new LED lights.
A number of the old light bulbs had failed and it is very expensive to replace them as scaffolding is needed to get up to them, so whilst the scaffolding tower was in place the opportunity was taken to move to LED lights that are much cheaper to run, last a lot longer and give a much more even spread of light.
The cost was met from funds raised by FOSM.