Four named as new trustees of Presteigne Memorial Hall

Changes have been made to a legal document to allow four people to take over the trusteeship of Presteigne Memorial Hall from Powys County Council.

Last July the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet agreed to hand over responsibility for the hall to a group to run it on behalf of the community as well as employing the services of a legal specialist in Charity Commission Law to “guide and support” the process.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet on Tuesday, December 10 senior councillors re-visited the hall’s transfer.

Cllr Beverley Baynham is the Powys county councillor for Presteigne and she supports of the move.

Joint leader of the Powys Independents, Cllr Baynham said: “There are four individuals named in the paper, but I can assure you there are other members that are in the group that can step in once the transfer is complete.

“The hall has been closed for 18 months, there been a huge amount of work and it would be remiss of me not to thank all those that have worked tirelessly to get us to this point.”

She said that a new fire system had been installed as well as grant funding being received to install LED lighting to make the hall: “more compliant and energy efficient.”

Cllr Baynham said: “The hall does hold a very special place in the community and many people have been very passionate about it.

“We look forward to the time where we can throw the doors back open again  in the new year.”
Head of legal service and monitoring officer Clive Pinney explained why the changes were needed.

Mr Pinney said: “We’ve taken the opportunity to update the scheme to bring it more in line with arrangements for other charities in the UK.”

Council leader, Liberal Democrat Cllr James Gibson-Watt said: “I have fond memories of the memorial hall.

“Having been a parliamentary candidate many years ago, there was a very lively hustings that took place there and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Cabinet then voted to agree the changes and trusteeship transfer.

The new trustees are Sarah Chilman, Samantha Haden, Geraldine Fletcher, and Lynne Owens, who have all been appointed for a two year term.

They now have the power to appoint other trustees to their committee.

The hall was built following the Second World War and the charity trust was created in 1953.

Powys council’s predecessor, Radnor District Council became the hall’s trustee in November 1983.

In 2023 responsibility for the building was moved between council departments.

This led to an inspection of the hall in March 2023 which found a number of safety issues that forced its immediate closure.

During this period talks took place on the possibility of transferring the trusteeship to a new hall committee which led to a public meeting earlier this year which showed support for the proposal.