The Orpen Hall Car Park resurfacing project is nearing completion and will be finished by the end of August, leaving the area spick and span and ready for the more intensive day to day usage which will resume in the autumn.
Over the past week a new black- top macadam surface has been laid which neatly complements the extensive repairs to the car park foundations, hall entrance treatments, kerbing and drainage work which has been going on since the end of July.
White-lining next step
The remaining work to be completed in the coming days includes white lining the car park area to show clearly where users may park and unload. It will also include disabled and cycle parking areas. There will be tidying up activities of course to remove excess debris, materials and the contractors plant and equipment.
Planting to follow
Following the completion of the works there will be a planting scheme drawn up for the new planting areas adjacent to the hall itself.
Parking Spaces
There have been some comments about the amount of parking that will be available after the works, and the access arrangements to the hall entrances. Approximately 40 marked spaces will be available together with a loading bay, 7 disabled spaces and parking for bicycles. Access to the MUGA area, hall entrances, emergency access points, have all been enhanced such that they are not blocked off in the future by parked cars while the hall is in use. This was a key feature of the design and indeed a fire and safety assessment pointed out the lack of ramps to some of the access points.
Thanks to residents & users
The Parish Council would like to thank hall users for their forbearance during these works. Most of the time at least some parking has been available, however it won’t be long until the whole car park is available once more. We won’t be doing this again for at least another 30 years so any inconvenience is over for a while!