Agenda and minutes

Chairman’s Announcements:

·         Recruitment of hackney carriage and private hire drivers

The Chairman welcomed everybody to the Melksham Town Hall for a special one item Melksham Area Board meeting to discuss the Shaw Playing Field and Village Hall grant application, who were requesting £7,380.00 for gable end capital repairs to the Shaw village hall.

The Melksham Area Board members were introduced, as were representatives of Melksham Without Parish Council and the grant applicants, Peter Richardson and Mike Booth.

The following Chairman’s Announcement contained in the agenda pack was noted:

·         Recruitment of hackney carriage and private hire drivers

Apologies were received from Cllr Hick Holder – Wiltshire Council & Cllr Jack Oatley – Wiltshire Council.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

Peter Richardson and Mike Booth - Shaw Playing Field and Village Hall charity outlined the grant application via a power point presentation.

The applicant had originally requested £7,380 for the gable end capital repairs, but on further inspection their contractor now felt that the gable end wall problem was less severe than previously thought and therefore repairs could be carried out at a slightly lower cost.

The applicant had unsuccessfully challenged the insurance company over its refusal to accept liability for the repairs, which have been forced due to stricter building control regulations not due to adverse use by the community. 

Points made by the Area Board members included:

Concerns as to why the owner of the building – Melksham Without Parish Council - would not take financial responsibility for the structural repairs to the village hall and a request for an independent legal opinion to be sought on where the liability should rest. 

That representatives of the Shaw Playing Field and Village Hall needed to continue to pursue their insurance company and the Financial Ombudsman Service to try and cover the costs of the repairs.

A request was made for MWPC to increase its funding contribution to match that of the Area Board; it was agreed that this matter would be discussed at a meeting of the council on 25 April.

It was stated that it would be unlawful for MWPC to pay the repair bill on behalf of the charity in order to avoid paying VAT on the repairs.

Decision (proposed by Cllr Jonathon Seed and seconded by Cllr Phil Alford)

·         That the Melksham Area Board agreed to award £4,000 with the condition that the representatives of the Shaw Playing Field and Village Hall and Melksham Without Parish Council take legal advice on the matter as to who was liable for the repairs.

·         That representatives of the Shaw Playing Field and Village Hall continue to pursue their insurance company and the Financial Ombudsman Service to cover the costs of the repairs.

·         That Melksham Without Parish Council, as the owner of the Shaw Village Hall would pay for the repairs if found liable and reimburse the Area Board for any funds granted by them.

Note: Cllr Jon Hubbard and Cllr Mike Sankey abstained from the vote