A plan to replace Barrowden's village hall has been given the go ahead by Rutland County Council.

The £800,000 development will see the old village hall at Barrowden that has been standing for nearly 100 years.

The application, number 2023/0155/FUL, details plans for a new community hub with proposed parking to include revised parking to the surgery site at Barrowden Village Hall, Wakerley Road, Barrowden, Rutland.

The community hub will replace the current building, which has a number of structural and safety issues, including a leaky roof, and will include two hub spaces as well as a kitchen and store, and will be more friendly, costing less to heat.

Plans also include landscaping.

£1.6 million plans were previously approved in August 2020, but funding was lost at the hands of the pandemic. The reduction in funding costs has meant that plans are being scaled back.

However, the six-person trustee team behind the plans are optimising that their funding bids will be approved, and they expect to hear back in early/mid-summer.

Funding includes money from the Government Levelling Up Funding - a fund that saw Rutland and Melton win £23 million in January 2023.

Read more here.

Organisers hope that this will be the first stage of plans to merge the community hall, shop and surgery.

Works should begin later this year, with all community groups and clubs relocating for the duration of the build.

To find out more, search 2023/0155/FUL on the Rutland County Council public access system.