onsultation and Zoom meeting will discuss future of Guilsfield Community Centre

The centre is part of Guilsfield Primary School, is owned by Powys County Council, and is leased to the community centre trustees.

But, wrangling over decisions made in the past, including questions over land ownership, saw the community centre face closure three years ago, before Guilsfield Community Council stepped in to help out.

The issue is that community centre trustees are in limbo.

They were waiting for the Charity Commission to provide information on the legal standing of who actually owns land that was bought on behalf of the community centre.

At the GCC November meeting, vice-chairman Councillor Glynne Turner, who has effectively been managing the centre since 2018, said that he would be stepping down from the role at the end of March 2021.

This has prompted a series of meetings over how the centre and associated land can be administered in the future.

Ideas included setting up a community sports club and bring clubs who use the facilities in to help its running.

Secretary of the Trustees, Malcolm Graham said: “After much behind the scenes activity involving lawyers and the charity commission we are now in a position to hold a public consultation with all the stakeholders and the whole community with the real prospect of a sound and legal solution to the knot of problems.”

The consultation started on Thursday, January 14 and will run until Sunday, February 14 and a public meeting will take place on Zoom at 8pm on Monday, February 1.

The community centre was brought up at a meeting of Guilsfield Community Council on Thursday night, January 14.

Councillor Trevor Trevor who is also a trustee, said that Trustees had decided that the only way forward was to have the Charity Commission extend their powers to include being able to manage the centre lands.

Councillor Trevor, said: “Any other a actions like purchasing and leasing lands was outside our powers which caused the present problems

“Extending the powers means that the land can be taken back in hand.”

“The consultation document has been sent out to every organisation that uses the land and every one listed on the original 1996 lease as being a user of the community centre.”

He added that it was proposed that two sub committees would be set up.

They would have trustees and representative of clubs on them, one would run the centre and the other the outside land.

Councillor Turner, said: “I think most people who know the historic circumstances, recognise that this is the way forward, and maybe the mess may be all sorted out.”

The consultation can be found by visiting https://www.guilsfieldcentre.co.uk/public-consultation and to get a link for the Zoom meeting email malcolm@bioagri.biz