Yesterday marked the start of works to renew the surface of the Orpen Hall Car Park. The Parish Council (PC) has appointed Groupbridge contractors to carry out the work following a tender exercise carried out in June and approved at June’s PC meeting.
Orpen Hall car park surface has deteriorated
Over the years the car park surface has gradually deteriorated and settlement over the last 10 years has resulted in ponding and puddles occurring after heavy rain. The surface is in fact very poor in places such that a lot of repairs will be needed prior to the new surface being applied. In addition to the new Tarmac surface some further drainage will be added to ensure that rainwater is collected and distributed either to new soakaways or to new French drains that will be installed along the longest edges of the car park.
After resurfacing the Orpen Hall car park will be re-lined and two sets of cycle parking stands installed near the entrances to the halls; disabled parking bays will be provided and ramps installed to ensure the hall is DDA compliant. A further feature will be to separate the car park surface from the main building to enhance the appearance of the hall. Planting will take place around the outside of the hall to soften the hard edges of the car park and building. A plan of the finished car park is shown below or you can click the following link for the most recent full size construction plan in PDF form – Orpen Hall car parking layout.
Co-ordination of the work is being undertaken by Doldens who are acting as agents to the PC and supervising the works. It is not anticipated that the work will unduly inconvenience the community since the work will coincide with the school holidays and at a time when the hall is not so heavily used. Access to the halls will not be affected and the repair work will be undertaken in two phases such that there is as much parking available at any one time as is possible. During this time one of the entrances will be out of action so as to isolate a portion of the car park for the works to take place safely. There will be a time in mid to late August when the whole surface will be re-paved meaning that the car park will be unavailable for up to three days. This will be well advertised in advance.
Timetable and contact
The timetable sees work being undertaken from yesterday (21st July) to the end of August, you can download an outline copy of the most recent timetable by clicking the link: Orpen Hall car park Programme. Regular hall users have been informed already as have those with single bookings over this period.
The work is being funded using PC earmarked funds of £50,000 and a grant from Essex County. Council for £12,000.
If any reader has concerns or queries they should contact the hall administrator ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]), or Parish Clerk (Parish Clerk ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]), in the first instance who will either answer queries or obtain information from our agent and/or contractor.