Speldhurst Chapel Project

Speldhurst Chapel - Works Update

Speldhurst Community Shop have now started work on renovating the chapel site. You can find out more on their Facebook page: Speldhurst's Community Shop and Post Office. They also write regular updates in the Speldhurst Village Magazine, Speldhurst News.

Speldhurst Chapel Purchase – Good News!

We are pleased to announce that we completed the purchase of the Speldhurst Chapel property on 3rd December 2024. At the same time, we signed a lease with Speldhurst Community Shop so that they will now have exclusive use of the chapel.

The lease runs for 25 years, allowing the Community Shop to operate as a shop and post office, and provide a community hub meeting space.  As part of the lease, the Community Shop will be responsible for all operating costs including council tax, utility costs, insurance and security as well as normal repair and maintenance obligations. The lease does have break clause provisions which either party can exercise including specific break options to take account of exceptional circumstances.

Speldhurst Community Shop has received planning permission to renovate and extend the chapel building at their own cost. As some of you will be aware they have raised over £400,000 to cover the cost of this work which is planned to commence towards the end of Quarter 1 2025 and to last for approximately 9 months.

To ensure these works are undertaken in accordance with the commitments that Speldhurst Community Shop has made to the parish council, a Licence for Alteration Agreement has also been signed between both parties.  

Acquiring the chapel property protects an important community asset in the Parish and safeguards the long-term future of Speldhurst Community Shop and Post Office. We look forward to a successful relationship with all involved.

1st April 2024: Bullet points taken from the March Full Council meeting minutes:

• Cllr Rowe, who is leading the project for SPC, said he was pleased to report that SPC had made an offer of £300,000 for the Chapel to the owners which had been accepted. 
• The offer had been conditional on the owners agreeing to arrange for a voluntary first registration of the property which will make the exchange and completion simpler for SPC. The owners had accepted this condition and had instructed their solicitors to arrange a first registration at Land Registry.
• The timetable for completion will be influenced by how long the first registration with Land Registry takes. The approval for the PWLB expires end of January 2025.
• The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) loan would not be drawn down until all parties were ready to complete.  It was hoped that the interest rates may have fallen by that time
• The Chair commended Cllr Rowe on all the effort he had put into getting the project to this point.

8th December 2023: Community Share Offer now closed

We will be back soon with more updates on the results of Speldhurst Chapel Project's share offer and fundraise. 

30th October 2023: Speldhurst Chapel Project Update

Speldhurst Chapel Project will soon launch its community share offer and fund raise to finance building works at the Chapel, to enable the Shop and Post Office to relocate to the Chapel and also create a community space in the building.

The share offer and fund raise opens on Monday 13th November 2023 and closes on Friday 8th December 2023.  For more information, and to find out when Speldhurst Chapel Project will hold community meetings, please see the attachment below. 

10th September 2023: The results of our parish survey on the future of Speldhurst's community shop and post office

Between the 1st and 30th of August 2023, the parish council ran a consultation asking residents for feedback on whether it should apply for a Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) loan to purchase Speldhurst Chapel so that Speldhurst's community shop and post office could move into it.

In total, 623 households responded, representing 32% of households in the parish.   

Having received a clear mandate from the consultation, councillors voted at their Full Council meeting on Monday 4th September, to proceed with an application for a loan to purchase the chapel site.

The results for each of the 3 questions were as follows; 

1. Do you think Speldhurst Parish Council should be taking steps to protect local assets such as the Speldhurst Community Shop - 89% said YES
2. Are you in favour of the Parish Council proceeding with this project - 85% said YES
3. Are you in favour of the Parish Council proceeding with this project knowing it will include a council tax increase of £12.49/yr for a Band D property, for the purpose of loan repayments – 82% said YES

You can find a further breakdown of responses by village (Ashurst, Langton Green, Old Groombridge, Speldhurst) to each question in the PDF document below. 

While the council will now proceed with an application for a PWLB loan there are further steps to complete and specific conditions to meet before we will draw down the loan - subject to it being approved - to purchase the Chapel site. If unforeseen problems arise or conditions are not met (and particularly if the Chapel Project Team does not raise enough funds through their community share offer to meet their obligations) the council will not draw down the loan. It is worth noting that the council only becomes liable for the loan when it is drawn down, and not when it is approved.

We will provide further updates as the project progresses. If you have any questions, do get in touch. 

To read the consultation information we provided to residents by post and via this website between the 1st and 30th August, please see the PDFs below.