Agenda item

(Voting: 9 in favour, 2 against)

The Locality Officer presented the grant application as detailed in agenda report. Members were asked to consider the awarding of a capital grant of £35,000 towards creating a community space within the recently restored historical building of All Saints Church in Isle Abbotts. He explained that the space would be for the use of the village of Isle Brewers and surrounding communities. He noted the village was a small community, and acknowledged that whist the amount of the grant requested was unusual, so were the circumstances.

Mr D Gale, a member of the project group, addressed members and provided an overview of the project, the funding raised so far and their aspirations for the community space.

Ward member, Councillor Malclom Cavill, thanked the officer for putting the report together. He highlighted that the small community had been very active. Due to the size of the parish there was no Parish Council, and hence they were unable to precept or obtain a loan, and they were also very unlikely to receive Section 106 monies. There was currently no community space within the parish, and he had no hesitation in supporting the project, and proposed approval of the funding.

During discussion some mixed opinions were expressed including:

·         What the community have achieved and the amount of funding raised was incredible.

·         Concern regarding the level of funding.

·         One of the local priorities recently agreed by Area North was tackling loneliness - and this project would help do that.

·         Is there car parking?

·         The community space must be open to all. We should not be seen to be supporting a particular worship.

·         Very impressed by the dedication of the community.

·         Will be of benefit to the community.

The Locality Officer, Mr Gale and the Leader of Council replied to points of detail and concerns raised during discussion, including:

·         Some land had been acquired opposite the church with parking in mind.

·         The church congregation was very small. Only a small proportion of the building would be for religious use and could be screened off, the rest of the space would be the community use.

·         The grant would be towards the community space element only, and not specifically the church. Similar projects had been supported by SSDC elsewhere in the district.

·         Space would be hired out to help generate an income.

·         Running costs for the building were anticipated to be low and were already covered by village and church activities.

·         Principle function of the building will be for community use, and looking to encourage a range of activities not related to the church.

·         Outcome of the Lottery funding was expected early to mid October.

At the conclusion of debate, a vote was taken on the proposal to endorse the awarding of the grant and to recommend to District Executive that the grant be approved, and this was carried 9 votes in favour and 2 against.

(Voting: 9 in favour, 2 against)