WHITCHURCH could finally get a new village hall to replace the existing one which closed its doors last month because of spiralling maintenance and running costs and concern over health and safety regulations.

The proposed site for the new hall is the small meeting room and garden adjoining Whitchurch parish church.

The current village hall, which was built in 1905, may be demolished under a new planning application made to West Devon Borough Council.

Dick Spackman, chairman of the hall trustees said church representatives had put forward the idea that if the church authorities were willing to sell the glebe land, consisting of a meeting room and garden it could be used as the site for a new village hall.

Mr Spackman said this new opportunity was being explored by the Whitchurch village hall committee after varying degrees of success in securing lottery funding for the project. A total of £45,000 had already been raised but the cost of the project was going up each year, due to inflation and the deteriorating condition of the village hall.

Mr Spackman said at the last estimate, it was considered that only a quarter of the total needed to create a new all-purpose community hall had been raised, leaving the trustees heavily reliant on outside grants and funding.

'We felt we were well and truly on the treadmill of applying for grants and the condition of the village hall was deteriorating all the time,' he said.

Mr Spackman said he felt the latest proposal was a more viable alternative than previous schemes because the new building would be 'more modern and cost effective'.

'The majority of requirements in Whitchurch were not for a big hall. What Whitchurch could provide is a small hall which could be used by community groups and organisations,' he said.

Mr Spackman said that Whitchurch had traditionally suffered because it was so close to Tavistock.

He said people tended to work or to go to school in the town and looked to it for its sports facilities and social needs to the detriment of Whitchurch.

The finances for the new village hall scheme could be met by adding the money already raised to the capital raised from the sale of the old site with planning consent to build residential accommodation.

Mr Spackman said in total the new site was slightly larger than the current village hall and its better location would provide improved disabled access.

He said the project had received overwhelming support from those attending the Whitchurch parish meeting in November.

Mr Spackman added it was 'absolutely fantastic' that a small community had been able to raise £45,000 for a new village hall.

Two separate applications have been lodged with the borough council by the trustees of the Whitchurch village hall. A conservation area consent to demolish the village hall at Whitchurch, and secondly outline planning permission to erect a detached dwelling with vehicular access on the site.

West Devon Borough Council would want to see a village hall built on a new site if permission to demolish the present one is granted.

A spokesmen said it was planning policy to recommend community centre facilities being retained where possible.

The Whitchurch trustees are waiting on two decisions. The planning application is likely to be considered by the councillors at a meeting in March and a decision from the church authorities is expected at around the same time.

The parish hall trustees hope, pending approval, that work on Whitchurch's new village hall could begin later in the spring.