Community News
April 2005
Welcome to our first news-sheet!
Our aim is simple: to keep you up to date on recent developments with regard to the Community facilities, and on what we can all do to retain them in the form we want.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) and the Community Hall Management Committee (MC) have met regularly since the village Survey was conducted and at long last the future of the Old School Hall is almost resolved.
The Survey conducted last year found overwhelming support for the retention and renovation of the Old School. After due consideration and discussion Church representatives and the PCC have fully endorsed this proposal. Now the community must make it happen.
The Old School Hall will be run by an independent Charitable Trust, set up and run by local people, so that the hall can be renovated and managed for the benefit of the village and surrounding area. A 25-year lease is being drawn up. The most recent joint meeting (in March), chaired by Archdeacon John Thelwell of Berriew, was well attended and productive.
The next meeting is planned for Thursday 21st April and will be an inaugural general meeting, incorporating the AGM, open to everyone. A new committee of 15 people needs to be established, to include representatives of all existing or potential users of the Hall.
Fund raising: This process has already started. A grant of £3610 was received last year to pay for the Llandyssil Village Feasibility Study (Survey). The Management Committee (MC) has submitted a further application for £5000 and the result will be known by mid-May. This grant is to pay for fully costed renovation and development plans, suitable for submission to Powys County Council and for using in support of further grant applications for the actual renovation. Raising funds for and managing this renovation project will be a long and demanding business but a determined group of people is ready for the challenge! We need to be united and committed and we will need the support of the entire community.
The committee plans to chart the progress of fund raising efforts with a large fund raising ‘Thermometer’ which will be constructed prominently in front of the Hall for all to see. Details of how you can help will be included in our next Newsletter.
Planning for the Future: To discuss all the possibilities for renovating and developing the Hall we need professional advice. To this end, three local architects and building surveyors are being invited by the committee to submit their proposals. When funding becomes available one of these companies will be awarded the contract to produce a fully costed planning and development portfolio.
Charitable Trust policies: An essential part of the Llandyssil Community Charitable Trust is the production and adoption of policies which set out the principles of how the trust will work. At the meeting in March Equal Opportunities and Environmental policies were adopted. Copies of these are available for inspection.
Some anxieties and fears laid to rest!
Risk assessment: In order to insure the Hall various things had to be done to satisfy our insurers. A limited upgrade of the wiring has been carried out to provide new RCD safety devices and plug sockets in the main hall. Now the electrical installations have been signed off for two years. A report is due. Thus, at a cost of £461 + VAT, the biggest worry for the committee has been removed.
A further cause of concern to our insurers was the risk posed by the lime trees (and a sycamore) in front of the Hall. The necessary lopping has now been carried out and our thanks go to Gwyneth Jones who has arranged a grant from the Church funds to cover these two items of essential expenditure.
The retaining wall is another concern, but the committee has taken no action to date. The situation will be monitored and its ultimate fate will be tied in with our improvements package.
Legal status of the Hall: In 1968 the PCC purchased the Hall and adjacent buildings for the sum of £1000. However, in order to safeguard proper usage and – as a last resort – disposal of property formerly belonging to the Church, the Representative Body of the Church in Wales (RB) retains legal authority to oversee what is done. Some members of the committee recently met with Alex Glanville, a solicitor for the Church in Wales, to discuss a draft for the proposed 25-year lease, which will include an option ultimately to purchase outright. The new committee will be responsible for the day-to-day running and development of the Hall and the RB are pleased to see it well run and used. Our understanding is that the RB will only step in if things go wrong! As long as we manage the Hall in the interests of the local community and remain financially sound we have complete autonomy.
The Hall and all its facilities belong to all of us. Our community is likely to experience some welcome growth in the future and the need
for communal facilities is central to our identityas a community.
We all need to be prepared to play a part in keeping it!