WILLITON'S hoped-for new village hall will not be built on Memorial Ground land, it was announced this week. The trustees of the ground, who are also parish councillors, have ruled that a site to the rear of the doctors' surgery - highlighted in a recent questionnaire by village hall steering group members - is definitely not an option. They said the site was rejected by the parish council in 1998 and they continued to support that view. And they said that the terms of the governing document of the Memorial Ground charity would not allow a village hall to be built on the land. In a statement released on Wednesday the trustees said: "The objects of the War Memorial Recreation Ground Charity are a 'recreation ground for the inhabitants of the parish of Williton'. "Any proposal to build on the charity's land must be 'subject to the trust of the governing document' and the provision of a village hall is not contained within those objects." Village hall campaigners have bought a piece of land, formerly part of the garden at Croftways, adjacent to the children's play area in the Memorial Ground. But they insist that the site behind the doctors' surgery was highlighted in the questionnaire only because many people favoured it as a more suitable location for a hall. The trustees have offered access for construction vehicles from the Long Street entrance of the Memorial Ground to the Croftways site and for mobility scooters via a proposed path around the northern and western sides of the Memorial Ground from Robert Street. They said they had issued this week's statement in response to parishioners' concerns regarding "misleading elements" in the questionnaire and that they were hopeful for a final conclusion to the matter in relation to the Croftways site. "The continuing demands to build on the War Memorial Recreation Ground are creating division within the village," they said. However, the announcement by the trustees received a less than enthusiastic response from the village hall steering group. Its chairman Ian Aldridge said he was disappointed that the decision by the trustees had not been given directly to the group, or at the very least ahead of it being made public in the press. "This makes our job of trying to move the project forward more difficult and does leave us wondering what more we have to do to establish a direct line of communication between our two bodies," said Mr Aldridge. He said letters from three independent advisors had clarified the position on the possibility of building a hall on the Memorial Ground. "The advice is that if the trustees wish to, they can apply to change the objects of the charity so that these would empower them to agree to such a building being erected on the ground. "The Charity Commission has not said that a community building would never be given the go- ahead. "The ball is firmly in the trustees' court - if they have the will to see this project built on the Memorial Ground, it is up to them to make it possible." Mr Aldridge said the steering group was dismayed by the idea that parishioners could only be asked if they favoured a site on the Memorial Ground if the trustees agreed. "The application for funding for the project would be weakened if all possible sites have not been investigated." And he said planning permission had previously been sought and granted - although now lapsed - for a replacement changing rooms pavilion on the same site. In relation to the alternative site - the land bought by the steering group - Mr Aldridge said the trustees had been asked before the purchase and indicated a willingness to allow limited access via the Memorial Ground. But the long term access needed - from the Robert Street entrance - was for vehicular access for disabled users, for emergency vehicles and deliveries, which would not be achieved through the footpath proposed. Mr Aldridge said the required right of access for construction traffic from the Long Street entrance was bought with the land and was not subject to the decision of the trustees. "It is possible to build a hall on the Memorial Ground. The trustees have been made fully aware of what access is needed to the alternative site. "The future of this project lies in their hands and at present they are not being helpful to it being built either on or off the Memorial Ground. "Too much attention is being paid to what may not be possible and too little to what is possible."
