So what about the rest?

Other historic buildings in Burngreave are also in need of use and renovation if they are to avoid falling into the same state as the Vestry Hall (see Investing in the Vestry), including the Cemetery Chapel, the Abbeyfield Park buildings and Pye Bank School.

In the early days of New Deal a ‘Community Facilities Audit’ was carried out to find out what buildings were already used and what else was needed. The Audit was never published and New Deal has no concrete plans to spend money developing other sites.

John Clark told the Messenger, “The Vestry Hall needs to be a focal point for learning, engaging people with first rung taster courses. Then if other buildings specialise, say in the arts, the Vestry Hall can feed people into the activities in those buildings. We need to get the Vestry Hall and Sorby House done first and develop other plans around them.”

If you have ideas about what should be in the Vestry Hall contact Joice Richards or Jon Cowley at New Deal on 292 2906.