Madam,

Not surprisingly, your article (Cambrian News, 14 September) about New Quay Memorial Hall is unbalanced since it is based on an unbalanced submission prepared by Ceredigion County Council officials for consideration at the Cabinet meeting on 5 September.

Since 1958 the hall was owned by New Quay Urban District Council and in 1974 its management was transferred to Ceredigion District Council who subsequently converted it into a registered charity and who became the Custodian Trustee.

In 2009 it was agreed between the Memorial Hall management committee and Ceredigion County Council that the committee would manage the hall, mainly the rental bookings and their invoicing, and that the council would be responsible for the maintenance of the building. This arrangement, duration of three years, was pending the establishment of a long-term lease. The first draft of the lease, a repairing lease, was not received until 18 months into the period and was unsatisfactory. It required the hall to take full responsibility for the maintenance and re-decoration of the building, items the council has failed to do for decades. A sum of £30,000 was agreed by the Cabinet in 2012 to aid the hall committee conduct essential work. In 2013 the council withdrew its caretaker resulting in our also taking over this function.

The condition of the hall is mediocre with, inter alia, internal dampness, rotten wood work, poor internal and external decoration. Various surveys have shown the cost of remedial works to be of the order of £40,000. The work conducted and financed by the council on the front façade in 2014 was necessary since there was a danger of part collapse of the wall.

The council does not appear to have recognised the work of the small voluntary committee over recent years in managing the bookings, cleaning, obtaining grants for roof insulation and its installation at our own expense, and for further internal furniture, redecoration some of the smaller rooms, repairing and re-painting the external emergency staircase, replacement hot-water boiler, minor repairs etc.

The withdrawal of both the £30,000 and the “subsidy” after April 2018 makes it difficult to maintain a hall that has been neglected by the council for many years but it remains the committee’s intention to keep this important asset for the community of New Quay open and running for as long as possible. To achieve this we are seeking more volunteers to assist us.

Yours etc

Dr Alwyn Davies, Lewis Terrace, New Quay.

Have your say on the local issues affecting you - email [email protected] or join in the conversation on our Facebook page