Residents appeal to Kirkburton Parish Council to sign over Shelley Village Hall

DOZENS of Shelley residents have told councillors they want to run their own hall.

Villagers are hoping for a community takeover of the lease of Shelley Village Hall.

The lease is currently owned by Kirkburton Parish Council and The Shelley Village Hall Committee, which has operated the facility for more than 30 years, pays about £5,000 a year in rent to the council.

It also has to seek approval and funding for any development work.

A deal to sell the lease to the group for £10,000 was first announced in November 2009, but nothing has yet been signed.

With the lease expiring at the end of July, almost 60 villagers braved torrential rain to attend councillors’ last chance to discuss the decision.

Representatives of all the groups who use the hall packed the meeting at Burton Hall, Highburton, including Cubs, Brownies, Pierrot Players, Line Dancing, Art Group, Pilates and Zumba.

Most groups had also sent letters of support outlining the community value of the hall.

Ann Priestman, chairman of Shelley Community Association, with Roy Cull and Anthony Clifton of the Hall Management Committee, spoke to urge acceptance of their amendments to the lease drawn up by the council.

Carol Rowatt spoke on behalf of the Cubs and Les Childs brought a cheer from those in the room when he read a message from his wife Christine who has run the Line Dancing Group on a Friday night for the past 15-and-a-half years.

Ann Priestman said after: “We have no library in Shelley, this is our community hub, and it provides many of the same services found in our libraries.

“We need to ensure the hall is kept vibrant and responsive to community needs over the next 125 years of the lease.

“We are very hopeful that Kirkburton Parish Council will shortly sign the leasehold of the hall over to us and we shall look after it carefully on behalf of the whole district, as we have done for the last 35 years.

“The letters of support, and that amazing turn-out on such a dreadful evening demonstrates the tremendous value of the hall in our community – we just need now to ensure future sustainability is enshrined in the lease.

“We are sure the amendments we proposed – due now to be considered by the next Management and Finance Committee will be acceptable to a green-controlled council that is fighting so hard against library closures in this area.”