14 year battle finished as Tibberton gets village hall

Residents of Tibberton were officially welcomed into their new village hall after starting their long journey to build the new venue in 2012.

It is now one of many new builds on Vardroe Way the village has introduced in the past few years, including ten social and four market sale houses.

The venture started in 2012 when Wychavon District Council approached the village to set up a Community Land Trust for the parish. 

FINALLY: Robbie Hazlehurst, Chair Tibberton Parish Council and David Campbell, Chair Tibberton Community Land Trust. (Image: Tibberton Village Hall) The Community Land Trust—a small steering group of volunteers—was set up to help build the new community facilities, which led to the completion of the housing and village hall.

However, the new builds for the community were not as straightforward as it may seem.

Financial restraints and Covid-19 were responsible for delaying the village hall from opening to the public. 

A spokesperson for Community Land Trust said: "Unfortunately, the site proved far more challenging than first envisaged, with extremely challenging topographical and drainage issues, which led to an unexpected increase in the development costs of the site.

"Consequently, the money available for the village hall was insufficient to complete the project.

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"Therefore, the parish council was approached to seek the funding shortfall as a long-term loan from the Public Works Loan Board at very competitive interest rates."

The building was completed in December 2019, but further issues led to its further delay in opening.

On Saturday (June 22), the village hall finally welcomed people into the building during an event which took place alongside the village fete.

The afternoon featured live music from the Stourport on Severn Brass Band and the Droitwich Ukulele Club, which entertained the families attending the event.

It also culminated in an outdoor party in the evening, with music from Come Together, who entertained villagers with a vast repertoire of music from the 1960s to the present.

The responsibility for the management and operation of the Village Hall has been signed to the Community Land Trust under a 125-year lease.