Madam,

The sale of the chapel in Dolybont will amount to a loss for the village. The chapel, like so many, is in need of costly repairs, and due to the minimal use of the chapel the decision to sell it off was inevitable.

Although the chapel is very close to where I live, I have not been a supporter in using it as a place of worship, which does not mean that I will not feel the loss of the facility and the pleasantness of seeing the joy of those who have used it for many years. It has formed an ambient part of the village community.

I can only hope that the funds raised in its sale contribute to supporting a longer life for other chapels in its place.

The chapel was put on the open market, inviting offers in excess of £40,000. There have literally been in excess of 100 people viewing the chapel discussing their hopes and ideas if they should be lucky enough to succeed in the purchase.

Due to the large numbers of people viewing the chapel, both organised and without the presence of the estate agent, I contacted Rev Watham James and suggested that as the offers were not requested to be sealed (so that no-one would know how much other interested parties were prepared to offer) and because of the amount of interest in the property, the chapel owners would benefit from putting the chapel up for auction - raising the maximum amount of capital for the church and not relying on the last bid-offer taken by the estate agent which would be only a minimum offer above the penultimate one.

The estate agents’ representative said on 25 August that the highest offer then was £62,500, which indicates that the original £40,000-plus was an underestimate in the interest in the property.

Therefore, would it not be in the interest of the chapel owners to reorganise this chapel sale to be made at auction and possibly raise the sale value to over £70,000-plus (as some people have told me that they would be prepared to pay £70,000 for this building) and to maximise the benefit to the church, as the funds raised are not for a private individual’s benefit but for the church and its congregation and for maintaining other places of worship so that fewer chapels and churches head for the same destiny.

Yours etc,

Phil Turner-Wright, Dolybont.

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