‘As we are nearing the Grand Opening of West Parley Community Hub, I thought it was the right time to thank all the people who have helped the Parish with the re-development of a fantastic community facility.

Since taking the building back from a lease in 2019, in difficult circumstances, the council has worked extremely hard to secure funding, to ensure that a community facility could be built, that meets the needs of 2025 and beyond.

I am grateful to the Parish Council of 2019, who made difficult decisions in order to keep the Hub, as I am to the people of West Parley in the early 1950’s who first cleared the land and built the original West Parley Sports Club.

Through their efforts and numerous others in the interim, sports have been played on site for over 70 years, and despite recent closures of the community areas, it has been, and now will continue to be a Hub for sports and community events.

West Parley is very fortunate to have thriving sports sections, who have shown untold patience and resilience to keep going in the most difficult of circumstances. I am delighted that they now have a community facility that matches their efforts on the pitch and the terrain.

Part of that larger community is Parley Pre-school, whose input and success has been the missing part of the puzzle to make the Hub work. I am thrilled that we are now able to offer a state of the art learning facility for our youngest students, and again it is just reward for the dedication and devotion that the staff have shown, to battle through adversity, and become an integral part of the Hub.

Whilst the council had a vision of how they wanted the Hub to look, it was all the contractors to the council that brought that vision to life; from Spase architects to Westmade, and a whole range of trades, always backed up by our amazing volunteers, we now have a building that exceeds our expectations. A modern, sustainable building, able to offer multi use at a time. A building to compliment and develop our current user groups, and a building to welcome new groups and communities.

In a world where facilities and services are being reduced and removed all around us, I am extremely proud that West Parley, in this instance, has gone against the grain, understanding the benefit, rather than the cost.

Please come and have a look around on the afternoon of the 15th November, and join us for some refreshments; everyone is most welcome.’

Mark Barber
Chairman West Parley Council