A CHURCH hall which became redundant two years ago when the Catholic church closed in Gunnislake may be given a new lease of life as a resource for young people of the parish.

The hall, which was built through local fundraising in 2001, will be knocked down to make way for a re-development scheme at the former St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church site if a new home is not found for it.

Developers Brian and Pat Richardson have offered it to the parish because they believe it should remain as a community facility — hopes are high that it can be relocated to the local recreation ground, Fosters Field.

The hall was well used by members of the church congregation who helped raise the £75,000 to build it, but when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth decided to close the church because of dwindling attendance numbers the whole site was sold off, including the hall and priest's house.

Parish councillor Dorothy Kirk is at the forefront of the campaign to keep what she called 'a splendid building' of pre-fabricated construction with central heating, a main hall, kitchens, toilets and an office.

She said: 'It was put there by local people, at their expense and it is only right that it stays and is not demolished as a part of a redevelopment scheme.

'There have already been individual groups interested in using this building, like the scouts and the youth club, but it has to be sustainable and that is where the parish council comes in. We can take the whole thing forward.

'We hope at the end of the day we will end up with a community facility which the scouts can use, any youth groups, the primary school, and it could even house a mother and toddler group if that is what the local people want.'

She said Fosters Field, which was owned jointly by the county and district councils, was the ideal location, being central to the village with a footpath to it and the village car park in close proximity.

Planning permission would be needed but discussions were taking place with planning officers, and the current owners of the building had been very supportive and helpful, she said.

Krys Kitt from Gunnislake Youth Project, which has temporarily closed through a lack of volunteers, said she felt there would be a lot more interest if this project came to fruition. The group had previously been meeting in the public hall.

'One big advantage would be that we could let the kids outside and there is plenty of space to run around in. It would be perfect for us and I am very hopeful that we could use it as a community youth café.'

Headteacher of Gunnislake Primary School Tim Holmes said he was excited at the possibility of having such a potentially useful facility on Fosters Field, which the school had access rights to during school hours and for after-school events.

'The benefits to the school of having such a building on the field would include such things as having the facility to provide "on site" refreshments and toilet facilities for school sporting events and work space for children involved in outdoor educational activities.

'I hope that the council will be able to secure this facility for the benefit of the children of Gunnislake Primary and, of course, for the wider community.'

Current joint owner of the former Catholic church site Pat Richardson said: 'It is a big building and if the parish can use it it would be absolutely magic. We have planning permission to put two bungalows so it has got to go.'