A protracted and sometimes frustrating process which began almost three years ago was ceremonially concluded at a special party held for the villagers with the signing of the legal documents which now enables the community to run and maintain St Ninian's Village Hall as itsees fit.
The management team, which is made up of user groups from within the Isle community, have a number of pressing challenges ahead of them. Not least will be attracting the funding that will be needed to bring the hall into a fit-for-purpose state. With the new tenancy and management arrangements now in place, Isle Futures - the community's regeneration charity, can now seek out thatfinance. Fund-raising events within the community have already been taking place to help prime thepumps.
In 2002, a Council survey of the property detailed that of £37,000 worth of repairs were needed to St Ninian's Hall. By 2007, only £2379 had been spent by Dumfries and Galloway Council, and it declared that there were no further funds for the work then or in the forseeable future. The community were vociferous in their concern about the deterioration of this most essential facility, and in a survey of all residents, supported the plan to go for Management Control.
At the ceremony, held on Saturday August 18th, the documents transferring control of the hall to the Isle community were signed by Kenny Barr, Chairman of Isle Futures, and Alan McLachlan, Principal Officer for Community Learning and Development.
Alex Fergusson MSP was present to witness the signing, and expressed his delight at the achievement.
He said:"This is the first community in the area to wrest control of its village hall from the Council, and I think it's a fantastic signal to other communities throughout Dumfries and Galloway that it can be done. I know there are a lot of other communities that would like to do it, and they're right to want to do it – it will free up all sorts of funding – and it'll bring wonderful opportunities to communities that have got the guts to take it on. This event simply underlines the great community spirit that exists here and I just hope that it's the fantastic success that I suspect it will be."
Kenny Barr, Chairman of the Isle Futures charity, is looking forward to the challenge: "We've had surveys already undertaken that's given us an idea of the work in front of usd. In the next couple of years we'll get it wind and water-tight, smartened up and a bit easier to use and maintain. As a community we'll then take a look at the best road forward, whther that's spending a considerable amount of money to completely refurbish this hall, or whether we consider going for a completely new hall. But that's a decision the community will make with us in the years to come."
Bob Rowley, Chairman of the Isle of Whithorn Community Council, and who is managing the Village Hall project with a team of volunteers is under no illusions about the task that lies ahead.
He said: "We've got a lot of work to do on the structure of the hall itself, there's a lot of work to do in marketing the hall – we want to make it a place that people will want to come to – for entertainment, functions, weddings, parties, exhibitions and events. If we can do that then we shall start to see the benefit in income that will come in so that we can plough those funds back into the running of the hall."