POTENTIAL plans for the new Cherhill Village Hall went on display to the public for the first time on Saturday.

All three architect firms, with their designs, attended to unveil their plans during an open day at the current village hall for residents to view and give feedback on.

The Cherhill New Village Hall Steering Group are hoping that from the feedback they will be able to create a suitable proposal which will be put to the village as a referendum through the Community Right To Build Order scheme.

A spokesman for the Cherhill New Village Hall Steering Group said: “It was a great attendance; we believe just from the amount of feedback, we were close to 200 people throughout the day.

“Our biggest challenge is to make sure people know it’s a community project for the community and it was great to see the village engaging.

“We’ve had three very good designs from the three architects who have been willing to submit themselves to competition at no cost to us; the designs are very different and exciting in their own ways.”

A representative from Wiltshire Council’s planning department also attended the open day while the group campaigning against the development, Save Cherhill Field, displayed photos and boards.

The group's petition to stop development on Park Lane field is at over 650 signatures.

A spokesman for Save Cherhill Field group said: "We were shocked to see the scale of the proposed new hall, which resembles a community centre for a large town rather than a small village with a population of just 700 people.

"These plans would also have a detrimental effect on the rural Park Lane conservation area.

"We have had a lot of support from within the village as people are realising the true extent of what is planned here."

The steering group however are pressing ahead with plans and are now looking at the feedback provided during the day before progressing with surveying the site.

Once a definitive proposal is created, the group will submit it to an independent assessor who will check the necessary planning rules have been followed and if they have will send it to Wiltshire Council for referendum.

“Love or hate them there’s bound to a design that stands out. They will use the delicate site in different ways; they look at being an asset not an eyesore,” a spokesman from the steering group added.

“The project is evolving as we move forward we have a considerable shopping lost of things to achieve and we have to adapt to what the village wants

“I think there was definitely a positive vibe in the room (on Saturday), there was quite a eye opening response it’s not going to look like a council building stuck into the middle of a field.”

More information on the designs can be found at www.cherhillvillagehall.org/the-designs