I READ with interest your article on the old NatWest Bank building in Sible Hedingham.

It was tremendous that our parish council negotiated its renovation as part of the planning agreement with Bloor Homes and their construction on the old Rippers Joinery site.

However, it now appears that it is likely to be handed to Braintree District Council with the likelihood of demolition.

Many in the village feel this would be a travesty.

Rippers was the lifeblood of this village and deserves some recognition.

There have been many suggestions for the building’s use, from pop-up art exhibitions, to Tourist Information to the essential Ripper history displays.

St Peter’s Primary School have expressed an interest in displaying children’s work on a regular, changing basis.

I’m led to believe that the condition of the bank building renders it ‘not worth restoring’.

A cursory inspection leads me to think otherwise and I’d be glad to fund an independent survey.

However, having been a Hedingham resident for over 50 years, I firmly believe that the condition of the Rippers timber should not be the be-all and end-all of its ‘worth restoring’.

The memory of the men and women who built it, used it and ran it should be taken into consideration.

There is a groundswell of opinion in the village towards keeping it.

A recent door-to-door petition garnered 260-plus signatures in one day with a solitary ‘not interested’.

The wonderful restoration of both Alderford Mill and Reeves House show it’s time Sible Hedingham stood up and said ‘no’ to the continued destruction of our history.