Enham Trust wants to extend the 1926 Landale Wilson Hall with a café, a lift, a first-floor bar and a front terrace. Comments to Test Valley close on 30 October.
Enham Trust has applied to extend and refurbish Landale Wilson Hall, the village hall at Enham Alamein, about two miles north of Andover town centre. The plans add a café, a lift, a first-floor bar and a terrace at the front.
The hall opened in June 1926, so the application lands in its centenary year. Test Valley Borough Council validated it on 7 October under reference 26/02188/FULLN. Comments are open until Friday 30 October.
What is proposed
The formal description, as amended by the architect before the council registered it, covers:
- first floor and ground floor extensions at the front
- an external fire escape staircase
- changes to the windows and new railings
- a terrace and ramps
- a new layout for the car parks
- removing the existing vehicle access at the front, and landscaping
The application form puts the hall’s floor space at 346 square metres now and 466 after the work, a gain of 120 square metres. It stays in community use.
Inside the hall
The design and access statement by Morgan Carey Architects of Wareham is blunt about the building. It calls the hall “dilapidated” and says the layout works against it. The main front door leads through the toilet blocks to reach the hall, and there is no step-free way to the first floor.
The plans change that:
- A café and servery replace the toilets and kitchen at the main entrance, opening onto the new terrace.
- Bigger toilets move to a room on the south side.
- A new lift and stair link the café to the first floor.
- The first floor grows. New gables go on the two wings at the back, with a flat-roofed bar between them.
- The old projection room goes, and the raked seating in the hall is completed.
The statement says the ideas came from a village-wide consultation in January 2025. Leaflets asked residents what events they wanted and how the hall should be used.
The front drive closes
At the moment, the curved drive in front of the hall doubles as access and parking for the Spar and Post Office next door. The architects call that an “unsafe environment” in front of the hall.
The plan removes the southern entrance and the curve of the drive. A lowered terrace is built over it, looking out across the green. The shop gets its own parking area to the north, with some accessible spaces for the hall.
The gravel car park to the south is laid out properly. The statement says it holds about 37 cars now. The Local Plan standard for a hall, café and staff would need about 48. The plans show 54.
What the council said last year
The trust took the scheme to the council for advice before applying. The pre-application response, dated 5 August 2025, found the plans “acceptable in principle”.
It treats the hall as a non-designated heritage asset: not listed, but valued for its history in the village and for the columned portico on its front. Its main worry was that the original raised terrace, with tables, fencing and umbrellas, would hide that portico. It also objected to a new hedge along the road and raised concerns about functions on the front lawn so close to the road.
It was positive about the first-floor extensions, which it said “would respect and complement the existing character of the building”.
The planning statement says the terrace has since been lowered, with grass banks and planting at the sides instead of railings. The hedge has been dropped. The architects say this keeps the front of the building in clear view.
A hall with a history
Enham began after the First World War as a village where injured servicemen recovered and retrained. The trust’s own history records that the Landale Wilson Institute was opened by the Prince of Wales on 26 June 1926. It was given by Mr and Mrs D. Landale Wilson to mark their silver wedding anniversary.
The architects’ statement adds the rest. After the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, people in Egypt raised money to expand Enham’s work with war-disabled servicemen, and the village was renamed Enham Alamein in recognition.
What it means for you
- If you use the hall, nothing changes yet. The council’s target date for a decision is 2 December.
- If you shop at the Spar or Post Office, the plan would end parking on the hall’s front drive and give the shop its own parking to the north.
- To comment, use the council’s planning portal and quote 26/02188/FULLN before 30 October.
The application does not say what the work will cost or how it will be paid for. Our Andover planning news page tracks the other big applications across the district.
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