A NEW option has been thrown into the debate over the future of Cowling's ailing village hall.

The hall is badly in need of repair and around £180,000 is needed to bring it up to standard and make improvements.

Residents met last Thursday to discuss the options put forward by the village hall steering group, including refurbishing the existing hall or building a new one.

But Joan Tindale, of Pinnacle View, suggested St Andrew's Church could be another viable site in the future.

"St Andrew's congregation is dwindling and there will come a time when it could amalgamate with the parish church and move up there," she said.

"I can't see the point in this fundraising and expense when there maybe an empty building in the next few years."

Village hall steering group chairman David Chilton took residents through the six options, with the price of building a new hall put at around £300,000.

The majority of residents dismissed all choices apart from refurbishing the existing hall, claiming they would not be able to raise the amount of money needed to construct a new one.

Conclusions reached on each proposed site for a new hall were:

Ling Crag Gardens: the site would be too small and there would be problems with access;

Royd Mill: although this would make an ideal site, it is the most expensive. "This village will never make £300,000 and it will be huge burden on the village," commented parish councillor Maurice Benson.

Sewerage works: this is contaminated land and a new access would have to be built. It was described as "a non starter".

Springwell Close: building a village hall here could cause nuisance problems for the elderly residents.

Cowling recreation ground: there was some concern over whether this could be built on, as permission had not been given by recreation ground managers. "Legally it's a bit of a minefield," commented Mr Chilton.

Catherine Smith, a member of the recreation ground committee, said: "It's the people of Cowling who paid for it and I think we should protect that."

The meeting heard that an application had been made for village green status to protect the area.

Architect Andrew Foreman told the meeting a full refurbishment of the existing village hall, with an added extension, would secure its future for at least the next 30 years.

Summing up, county councillor Irene Greaves urged everyone to get involved with the project.

"It's time that you recognise that you don't have to have been born in Cowling to want to do things in the village," she said.

"This is your opportunity to provide for Cowling into the next century. This is a fresh start for Cowling and a future which encompasses people of all ages."

Questionnaires about the village hall project have gone out to all homes in Cowling.

Residents are asked to complete these and return them by the end of February, as a large number of returned forms would be needed to secure grant funding.

The results would then be passed onto the parish council which would decide which option to progress.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.