Following the full council meeting of Tetbury Town Council which took place on Monday, the council are in full support of the Dolphins Hall Community Project, writes Kevin Painter.

The concerns raised on Monday night on behalf of the residents of the town is that we wish to see the whole project delivered in a sustainable way.

Cllr Nikki Ind presented the council with a passionate plea that although the town council fully supports this project, the council and the townspeople cannot be financially liable if the full project is not delivered.

Although the town council have been informed by the Dolphins Hall Management Committee that they are willing to see the whole project through, the town council has concerns regarding the funding for the second phase.

Apart from the S106 monies and the possibility of grant funding from Sports England, we have not been informed of other funding streams being guaranteed which will see the whole project delivered.

In the financial plan presented to the town council it states that ‘ensuring the hire rate is set above the cost of the building being open, will ensure the project is sustainable in its own right, even if the second project is not delivered’.

This statement goes against the S106 requirements.

We have spoken with the Dolphins Hall Management Committee to remove this part of the plan, and as to why we have requested a contract to ensure that the whole project is delivered.

A proposal was made last night by Cllr Colin Pearce, seconded by Cllr Peter Coleman, that a contract is drawn up between Tetbury Town Council with the Dolphins Hall Management Committee which confirms that the whole project will be completed within two years.

If the Dolphins Hall Management Committee are not prepared to sign the contract for the whole project to be delivered then we would request that the building phase is turned around with the Community Hall being delivered to the community first, we are currently awaiting their response.

This was voted 10 in favour, 3 against, 1 abstention.

Mayor Ann Pearce added “We want the project to go ahead and want to ensure that Tetbury has its own community hall that will be sustainable and robust enough to carry on for the future of Tetbury.

“However if you remember last year. the town was stunned by the closure of the leisure centre, so we would be remiss in duty to our townsfolk if we did not ensure by putting in safeguards to protect the cornerstone of this project, the redevelopment of the Dolphins Hall, we would be failing in our duties to the town.”