15. Site Developments: 2006-2016

As the Village Hall site continued to develop, additional facilities, leases and arrangements were introduced across different parts of the site.

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Jubilee Extension (2011)

The Village Hall was extended with the addition of the Jubilee Room in 2011.

• Project cost: approximately £130,000
• Funding: South Norfolk District Council grant

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Mulberry Park (2006–2008)

Land at Mulberry Park was transferred to Mulbarton Parish Council in December 2006 for a stated consideration of £500.

Contemporaneous records indicate that a separate sum of approximately £30,000 was paid in connection with site assets, including the floodlighting installation.

Following acquisition, the Parish Council entered into lease arrangements relating to the use of the land, including a lease with Mulbarton Wanderers Football Club (later Mulbarton Wanderers C.I.C). These arrangements included rights connected to the wider Village Hall site, such as access, parking and services.

Use of the Village Hall Site in Lease Arrangements

The lease documentation defines “Landlord’s Neighbouring Property” as including both Orchard Park and:

“the village hall land … as conveyed to the Parish Council of Mulbarton by way of a conveyance dated 19 December 1985…”

Within the lease structure, this land forms part of the property over which rights are exercised, including:

• access routes
• service connections
• ancillary use such as parking

The lease also reserves rights to the landlord over that land, including the ability to enter into agreements and receive income associated with it.

Position Reflected in Correspondence

Correspondence from the same period records the Parish Council describing its role in relation to the Village Hall land as that of custodian trustee, holding the land on trust for the Village Hall Charity.

Documentary Context

The lease wording and the correspondence describe the same land at the same time in different terms:

• the lease defines the Village Hall land as part of the Parish Council’s property for the purposes of the agreement
• correspondence refers to the same land as being held on trust for the charity

Both sets of documents form part of the record and relate to the same underlying site.

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Skate Park (2013)

In 2013, a skate park was installed on part of the Village Hall overflow car park, adjacent to the phone mast.

• Project cost: approximately £40,000
• Funding: shared between Parish Council precept income and external grant funding

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Scouts Lease (2014)

A new long-term lease was agreed in 2014 between Mulbarton Parish Council and the Scout Association, replacing the earlier 1997 lease.

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Blakeys (2016)

In 2016, a lease was agreed between Mulbarton Parish Council and a commercial operator (Blakeys) for the operation of a café on part of the Village Hall car park. The Village Hall Charity was also in receipt of ongoing payments from Blakeys, separately from the payments to the Parish Council, for use of toilets.

The overall arrangement included:

• use of car parking space
• access to Village Hall facilities, including toilets
• connection to water and electricity services

The lease has generated several thousand pounds of income for the Parish Council. A further lease was entered into in 2024; details were not shared with Village Hall Charity trustees at the time.

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Records and Asset Register

During this period, the Village Hall Charity actively sought clarification on what legal arrangements underpinned all this activity on the site, and requested access to relevant documentation.

Across the period 2006–2016:

• certain documents could not be located
• the Village Hall property did not appear on the Parish Council asset register

Subsequently, entries were added to the Parish Council asset register, including:

• the Village Hall building
• the Jubilee extension
• surrounding land

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In Summary

Between 2006 and 2016:

• additional land was brought into Parish Council ownership
• new facilities were developed across the site
• multiple lease arrangements were entered into with third parties
• different parts of the site were used for a range of community and commercial purposes

The records from this period document how these arrangements developed over time.