Comment
Rayleigh Town Centre Area Action Plan - Issues and Options
Representation ID: 23829
Received: 24/12/2009
Respondent: The National Trust Rayleigh Mount Local Committee
I would like to raise Rayleigh Windmill as another issue to be considered. Sadly, the Mill is hardly mentioned in the text of the conservation document, so I have to bring it up under this catch all question.
Now that the Windmill has accredited museum status, it should be easier to obtain grant funding for improvements. Therefore, I would like the council to consider the provision of an education centre to operate in conjunction with the Windmill.
When school groups visit the mill, there is nowhere where the whole class can be assembled and addressed. The class has to be split into small groups and distributed onto the various floors of the Windmill.
If a demountable classroom (or similar building)could be sited close to the Windmill, this would make encouraging school visits (both the Mill and Mount) much more viable. A possible site may be 23/25 London Hill, which is a piece of land backing onto the sensory garden, and owned by the District Council, but not currently used.
Such a demountable classroom would have many advantages. Apart from being a better teaching space, the walls could be used to display work done by pupils (the Windmill, being a listed building, is very restricted in terms of display opportunities). It could also provide some storage space for equipment, etc. (again, the Windmill itself has almost negligible amounts of storage space).
In addition to educational uses, such a building could, for instance, house larger temporary exhibitions than can be accommodated in the Windmill, and would be a reasonable sized meeting space. It might be a suitable venue for small functions/events. In short, it would be a valuable adjunct to the Windmill, greatly increasing the flexibility of uses.
As the Windmill is generally opened by volunteers, an education centre would have to be covered by the same arrangement. However, it might occasionally also be staffed by the council- for children's events during the school holidays, perhaps?
In the longer term, we have to make the Windmill area a greater draw for visitors, and this should be something addressed by the area action plan.
As far as the Windmill itself is concerned, it has proved it can win awards- which must be an indication it has potential. There are quite a lot of volunteers associated with it, and their loyalty and determination is commendable.
The main drawback is that it is only open for limited periods. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. Effectively, it is the symbol of the town, but, if it is to play a greater role in attracting people to the town centre, more resources need to go into it.
Having to have a steward on each floor of the Windmill, makes opening by volunteers extraordinarily labour-intensive, which restricts how often it can open ( although on the plus side it means visitors can always find a steward to answer questions, explain exhibits, etc.).
However, perhaps a lot more thought should be given to getting just the ground floor open much more often. This, of course, would depend on there being sufficient to interest visitors on the ground floor (which is not the case at present). New interpretive boards on the walls on the ground floor, and a greater range of material that could be shown on the TV screen would be a good start.
The Windmill also needs to be advertised much more prominently in the High Street (and promoted more effectively as a visitor attraction).
I would like to raise Rayleigh Windmill as another issue to be considered. Sadly, the Mill is hardly mentioned in the text of the conservation document, so I have to bring it up under this catch all question.
Now that the Windmill has accredited museum status, it should be easier to obtain grant funding for improvements. Therefore, I would like the council to consider the provision of an education centre to operate in conjunction with the Windmill.
When school groups visit the mill, there is nowhere where the whole class can be assembled and addressed. The class has to be split into small groups and distributed onto the various floors of the Windmill.
If a demountable classroom (or similar building)could be sited close to the Windmill, this would make encouraging school visits (both the Mill and Mount) much more viable. A possible site may be 23/25 London Hill, which is a piece of land backing onto the sensory garden, and owned by the District Council, but not currently used.
Such a demountable classroom would have many advantages. Apart from being a better teaching space, the walls could be used to display work done by pupils (the Windmill, being a listed building, is very restricted in terms of display opportunities). It could also provide some storage space for equipment, etc. (again, the Windmill itself has almost negligible amounts of storage space).
In addition to educational uses, such a building could, for instance, house larger temporary exhibitions than can be accommodated in the Windmill, and would be a reasonable sized meeting space. It might be a suitable venue for small functions/events. In short, it would be a valuable adjunct to the Windmill, greatly increasing the flexibility of uses.
As the Windmill is generally opened by volunteers, an education centre would have to be covered by the same arrangement. However, it might occasionally also be staffed by the council- for children's events during the school holidays, perhaps?
In the longer term, we have to make the Windmill area a greater draw for visitors, and this should be something addressed by the area action plan.
As far as the Windmill itself is concerned, it has proved it can win awards- which must be an indication it has potential. There are quite a lot of volunteers associated with it, and their loyalty and determination is commendable.
The main drawback is that it is only open for limited periods. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. Effectively, it is the symbol of the town, but, if it is to play a greater role in attracting people to the town centre, more resources need to go into it.
Having to have a steward on each floor of the Windmill, makes opening by volunteers extraordinarily labour-intensive, which restricts how often it can open ( although on the plus side it means visitors can always find a steward to answer questions, explain exhibits, etc.).
However, perhaps a lot more thought should be given to getting just the ground floor open much more often. This, of course, would depend on there being sufficient to interest visitors on the ground floor (which is not the case at present). New interpretive boards on the walls on the ground floor, and a greater range of material that could be shown on the TV screen would be a good start.
The Windmill also needs to be advertised much more prominently in the High Street (and promoted more effectively as a visitor attraction).