On behalf of the HDCC committee, I would like to thank everyone who took part in the recent parish council poll.
The result is a clear and exciting mandate: the community has voted in favour of investing in the future of our village through our development of a new community centre. This is an important and historic moment for our local infrastructure, and one that will benefit generations to come.
We know from speaking to you on the doorstep and at our pop-up surgeries that this decision was not taken lightly. Many of you have considered carefully what you want for our lovely village, weighing the costs and the opportunities. We remain fully committed to listening to your feedback and addressing concerns as we move forward together. We also recognise that not everyone supports the project, and we respect the views of those who will find this result disappointing.
With this community endorsement, we can now work confidently with the Parish Council and Wealden to secure the Community Led Infrastructure Funds that are vital to our fundraising strategy. This will also strengthen our bids to major funders such as the National Lottery, enabling us to take the project forward in earnest.
We are deeply grateful to all who took the time to vote, to our supporters, and to our brilliant team of volunteers, committee members, and trustees whose energy and commitment have brought us to this milestone. Special thanks also go to the Parish Council for ensuring that this important decision was put to the community in a democratic way, and to the Parish Clerk for her hard work in organising the poll and reporting the result.
This is a big step forward for our village, and we are excited to continue this journey with you.
Bob Lake
Chair, HDCC