MADAM,

Village halls are widely acknowledged to be the lifeblood of small rural communities in Monmouthshire. They provide a focus for leisure, education and activity for their populations, which often suffer from limited or non-existent public transport. Especially, they provide education and entertainment for young people via Wild Tots groups, Toddlers’ Mornings, Youth Clubs and sports and also opportunities for social contact for elderly people, who might otherwise be very limited in their options.

Village halls are charities run by volunteers, with all the funds they raise going back to the community to maintain buildings and support these social, educational and leisure activities for residents. Thousands of hours of volunteer work are donated each year to keep these halls vibrant parts of our villages.

Monmouthshire County Council’s (MCC) current priorities include: maintaining local accessible services; wanting every community in the county to be sustainable and resilient and improving the social and cultural well-being of residents. Village halls cover all these priorities.

We understand that businesses that do not make a profit, do not pay the business rate. Village halls do not make any profits, any surplus is ploughed back into the fabric and amenities of the halls themselves. Yet, despite our requests to them, backed by our local Councillor Debby Blakebrough, MCC still insists that village halls pay 20 per cent of the business rate.

We understand the financial pressures which all councils are under, but MCC is one of only a tiny handful of councils in Wales which charges rates to village halls - and this only raises £16,500 pa. This amount is peanuts to MCC, but the sums taken from each small village hall give real problems to us and the people we represent.

We, chairs of the village halls in the Trellech United area, call upon MCC to live up to its promises and remove this burden from their rural communities - and allow us to spend all the funds we raise to the benefit of our residents.

Karen Powell, Andy Pullan, Bob Dagger, Jocelyn Hickling, David May, Marilyn Dunkelman, Andrew Jordan

(Chairs of Trellech United village halls)

MADAM,

I must thank those representing village halls for making me aware of their open letter. However I need to correct many of the points they have made on their rates payable.

It is incorrect to suggest that businesses that do not make profits pay no rates.

Yes it is correct that at the moment village halls get an 80 per cent reduction from their rates and are asked to pay 20 per cent. This has been the position for a number of years.

It is incorrect to suggest the council has refused to consider waving the remainder of the charge. What we have done is to ask for evidence of hardship from village hall managements so that the situation can be evaluated.

It is misleading to suggest that this change would only amount to a mere £16,554 loss to the council. Village halls are grouped with charities which also give valuable community service. Charities deserve similar treatment to village halls. So the cost of the extra 20 per cent discount would rise next year to £108,000. That, in these difficult times, is a considerable amount and would require some serious consideration of where the money is coming from.

So in conclusion, MCC is very conscious of the value that village halls bring to communities and would not wish to endanger their continuation, but in these difficult times we cannot make decisions on moving budgets from one place to another without proper consideration of the effects of the disinvestments elsewhere.

Peter Fox OBE

(Leader, Monmouthshire County Council)