Orpen Hall Car Park Finished

Resplendent in the evening sun today the Hall car park appears transformed from its former pot-holed and generally dishevelled appearance of late.  Groupbridge  our doughty and endlessly accommodating contractor has departed leaving only the portaloo as evidence of the workforce and equipment which has been a feature of the car park over the past 6 weeks.

Over the summer holidays the following work has been carried out:

  • Old surfacing scraped off and potholes filled in
  • Surface levelled and prepared to form the hidden (but essential) base-course of the parking area
  • New kerbing has been laid to the perimeter
  • Two new soakaways have been installed to take drained rainwater away out of harm’s way
  • French drains have been installed for water to percolate through to the edges
  • New drains installed and pipework fitted
  • New blacktop course laid to the entire car park
  • Planting areas prepared
  • Cycle stands installed
  • Ramps installed to some hall entrances
  • 44 regular car parking spaces marked out together with4 disabled spaces and a loading bay
  • Access to adjacent areas of the Muga and football pitch created and protected from encroachment

Some of these features are shown in the slide show.

All this has been achieved with minimal inconvenience to hall and Lorkin Daniell field users. There are one or two “snagging areas” to revisit in the coming weeks and planting areas will be planned for landscaping activities (both hard and soft landscaping will be employed).

The Parish Council would like to reiterate its thanks to: Groupbridge  (especially Chris Souter the Project Manager)  our excellent contractor, to Doldens  our designers and contract managers, to nearby residents and hall and Lorkin Daniell field users. Especial thanks also go to Essex County Council for their generous grant of £12,000.

As the lead for the Parish Council on this work I would like to thank the following for their assistance. Firstly my fellow Cllrs on the PC project team Bob Tyrell, Andrew Savage and Brian Butcher, as well as those who assisted with co-ordination, namely the Hall Administrator Vicky Beckwith-Cole, the Chair of the Environment Committee Phil Walby and last but by no means least our PC Chair John Gill-Ross whose almost daily inspections towards the end of the project ensured we picked up many of the users’ needs, using his long experience of the way the community interacts with the hall and environs.

I hope the community makes good use of the car park over the coming months and years. I hope readers will agree with me that the work has been transformative.

Chris Stevenson, Chair of Planning and Development Committee – 10th September 2014.

Black-top on at Orpen Hall car park

New tarmac on Orpen hall car park
New tarmac at Orpen Hall car park

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!

Orpen Hall Car Park starting to take shape

This picture update shows some progress made on the car park over the past week, with some photos taken by Doldens.  We are beginning to see the benefit of separating the hall from the car park already, with the new kerbing redefining the relationship between the building and the tarmac. We sometimes don’t appreciate the aesthetics of the original hall design, and the revised car park treatment will bring this out.  Life isn’t only about functionality and low maintenance!

 

Orpen Hall Car Park resurfacing

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.

Preparing for work on Orpen Hall car parkWork preparation continuesMaterials ready

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.

Orpen Hall Car Park 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.

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