Trustees could not muster enough votes to sell Garway’s old village hall last week which they need to do to pay for the site of the brand-new £700,000 community centre.

The former village hall, opposite the old school, was built in the 1920s and was expected to be sold to pay for the land the new hall sits on. More than £717,000 of lottery funding was raised to build the new energy-efficient multi-purpose centre which was opened in April.

But despite more than 100 residents attending a meeting on May 31st, Garway Village Hall Trustees did not get enough votes to approve the sale.

The hall’s conveyance and trust deed requires that any decision to sell or let the building would need approval of three-quarters of the residents present at the meeting. Of the 107 residents that attended, 55 voted yes, 51 voted no and one vote was spoilt.

Malcolm Howard, vice-chairman of the trustees, said he was at a loss as to why residents had voted that way. He said: “We have had bookings from the outreach group, conferences and weddings. We own the new site but we were given a two year interest free mortgage by the former landowners.”

The trustees are planning a meeting this week to discuss their options.

The hall has recently received news of further lottery funding, see page 3 in this week's Ross Gazette for details.