Electrical upgrade for community building

A COMMUNITY building is booked in for an electrical and heating upgrade thanks to a grant from a local councillor.

North Herts Rural county councillor Tony Hunter has awarded �1034.60 from his locality budget to Barkway Parish Council to help pay for upgrades to the Barkway reading room, located in the village high street.

The building, which is used as a meeting place for village organisations and as a book exchange centre, had to be temporarily closed earlier this year after the electrical and heating system failed a health and safety inspection.

Cllr Hunter said: “The Reading Room is a great asset to the village, and provides a much-needed meeting place for local groups as well as housing a drop-in and book exchange service for local residents, so it was a great shame to hear that it had to be closed owing to the condition of its electrical and heating systems.

“As is often the case, this kind of work can be costly, but it is essential and I hope that this contribution from my locality budget will help to ensure that the building becomes the community focal point that local people want to see in the village.”

Locality budgets were launched in July 2009, with funding to be used for worthy social, economic or environmental causes in Hertfordshire.

A total of �10,000 is available to each of the 77 members of Hertfordshire County Council to spend on worthwhile community projects in their area.

For information on how to apply for funding under the scheme, visit www.hertsdirect.org and type ‘locality budgets’ into the search box.