Upgrade of Recreation Hall Kitchen for Community Use

This is a project to upgrade the kitchen at the Marks Tey Recreational Hall. The recreation hall is an under-utilised sports hall. The council wishes to improve facilities to encourage higher footfall. The kitchen is barely usable, and an upgrade would make the space more appealing. The current kitchen is not immediately accessible from the hall, so the plan is to open the wall as a serving hatch and improve the kitchen layout.

The parish halls provide a community hub offering a place for people to meet, helping combat social isolation. Currently there are no opportunities for parents and guardians to gather with young children at a parent and toddler group. There is no accommodation for older children, and the council wants to establish a monthly evening youth club to provide a much-needed hub for the youth to meet in a safe space. Improvement to the kitchen would give an opportunity to provide drinks and snacks during any activity.

The vision, objectives and proposals for the project are directly informed by the results of community consultation. The parish is formed from several hamlets incrementally segmented by two railway lines and two major roads. This project aims to restore the heart of the community with an upgrade of indoor facilities to encourage community focus. The communal space will bring people together socially and offer an opportunity to play, chat and possibly exercise, with the well-documented advantages for mental and physical wellbeing. Provision for the younger demographic is much needed, and the council would like to continue to support this hard-to-reach group. A community social facility and hub for gathering safely, within green surroundings, offers a temporary escape from the problems of congestion, pollution and environmental damage experienced in many parts of the parish.