Dormansland War Memorial Hall
A Hall For All
The Dormansland Memorial Hall was established in 1920, after the extraordinary generosity of the Nichols family, as an asset for the entire Parish. Its Deed of Trust remains largely as set down at that date. In later years, it had become apparent that the demand for the Hall had declined, and its then Trustees stepped down. Mr Nichols, the Grandson of the family who kindly donated the Hall to the village after the Great War has described the actions of the current Trustees as “Outrageous” and has said that their actions regarding the land donated by his Great Grandfather “Certainly wouldn’t have been what they had in mind.”
At the start of 2018, the Parish Council called a meeting. The meeting notice did not make it clear to the Parish that the meeting was concerned with plans for the redevelopment of the Memorial Hall, in addition to appointing the new trustees. It has been argued by the four Trustees that the meeting was sufficient to authorise a redevelopment in the first instance of the Royal Oak pub.
The trust deed is clear, to submit a proposal for development a meeting must be called and the beneficiary, that’s us, must have a say and a vote. We did not have a say, there was no vote and the development failed to materialise as planning permission was not granted.
In 2019 a further proposal was put to the village, but never voted on by us as beneficiaries nevertheless the Trustees signed and exchanged contracts with a new developer. Planning permission was never sought and the plans have failed to materialise. There is now a third development announced which does-not and can-not be made to pass planning conditions.
This incompetence must be stopped and we need your help to do this.
Given that the beneficiary, that’s us, did not vote on any of the development proposals it is possible that both of the Development Agreements were entered into without authorisation. If so, they would be voidable by the beneficiaries and any financial losses accruing under them would be to the personal account of all of the Trustees at the time those arrangements were entered into, whether or not they remain Trustees.
This is pertinent as the Trustees’ actions under those Agreements to date have resulted in charges and liabilities against the Memorial Hall which they are supposedly protecting on behalf of the Parish running into tens of thousands of pounds.
The Trustees are currently operating outside of the terms of the Trust deed, the Deed makes it clear there must be a minimum of three Trustees and there are only two.
We want every member of the parish of Dormansland to have a say in the future of the Memorial Hall in order to protect this important village asset and stop the current erosion of the financial value of the asset.
What are we proposing?
that the Parish resolves to remove the remaining 2 current Trustees of the Dormansland Memorial Hall
that the Parish agrees that there should be a full public consultation in respect of the usage of the Dormansland Memorial Hall property; and
that the Parish shall agree a new board of Trustees after a further public and open procedure to do so
What can you do?
We want you, as a member of the parish of Dormansland to have a say and join us in this venture. Our vision is to build on the expertise and efforts of all the past and present trustees to understand exactly the challenges faced. We are confident that there has never been a better time to revisit the future plans for the Hall, and are very excited at the prospect of being able to do so.”
To get involved, as a Trustee, or a member of the support group, or if you have skills to help us campaign or fundraise contact us via the button below;