ALTON Men’s Shed has been granted temporary planning permission by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) for a bid by the group to site a ‘shed’ in the car park at All Saints Church Hall, on Queen’s Road.

The permission, granted on September 14, will expire after 12 months as EHDC felt the site lies within a “predominantly residential surrounding”. EHDC also imposed limited usage hours.

The proposal, submitted by Alton Men’s Shed chairman Ian Scott is for the construction of a timber-framed building to be used as a workshop for community projects.

In seeking the backing of councillors, Mr Scott told Alton Town Council’s planning and transportation committee that the concept of Men’s Shed clubs was started in 2011 and there are currently 100 in England, with a new one starting every week.

The idea he viewed as “a catalyst to get retired men of all backgrounds, no exclusions, involved in their own well-being as well as feeling they can still be a participant in the community”.

He pointed out that 20 years ago men retired and quickly passed away and, while that wasn’t always the case nowadays, “boredom, depression, loneliness and bereavement” could still have a damaging impact on retirees.

The Men’s Shed concept has been developed to help address these problems by offering a community initiative that can improve the physical and psychological well-being of members, enabling retirement to be “a joy”, with the benefit of helping others.

He said: “Our vision of Alton Men’s Shed is that this group of men, with a vast range of skills, will be able to repair cycles and toys for one-parent families, and offer gardening assistance for the elderly and less able, along with support for other charity groups.”

Supported since February by EHDC, which has been helping in the search for a suitable premises, the group had been drawing blanks.

“Such a premises does not appear to exist in Alton on any farm, private premises or even the industrial estate,” said Mr Scott.

Instead the decision was taken to seek permission to build a traditional timber shed on a space in the corner of the All Saints Church Hall car park.

To date the application has attracted three letters of support from members of the public who view the concept of a Men’s Shed as a “great idea” which will enable retired men to put practical skills to good use, and to pass them on, while combating loneliness, meeting other people, and helping others in the community.

However, six others objected to the proposal on grounds of noise and disturbance in a residential area.

These were concerns shared by Environmental Health officers but these, Mr Scott believes, have been addressed with the decision to re-design the ‘shed’ to incorporate the highest level of acoustic matting, together with internal plasterboard lining, to reduce sound transmission.

On the subject of heating and thermal insulation, it was pointed out that the longest period of time any one person is likely to be working in the ‘shed’ is one to two hours, and the aim will be to include an electric cooling fan with extractor or an air-conditioning unit.

They are expecting to use hand-held rather than power tools, and would only use battery-operated drills and screwdrivers over a very short period of time (two to three minutes), producing half the noise of a vacuum cleaner.

The ‘shed’ will only be used when the church hall is not in use, so that the men’s group can use the hall for socialising, the kitchen for making drinks, and also access the toilet facilities. And this will be from 8.30am-5pm on Mondays, and 8.30am-1pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Mr Scott confirmed that there would be no maintaining of vehicles, hammering of metal, or materials stored outside the building, and that vehicle movements associated with the Men’s Shed would not occur outside the planned times.

Town council planning committee chairman Graham Hill welcomed the objective of the Alton Men’s Shed to offer “comradeship and fellowship”, adding that the group appeared to be approaching this initiative with an attitude of respect and consideration, and that the shed they had in mind would be no different to the shed he had in his back garden.