Thumbs up for hall transfers

TWO proposals for village halls in Wigtownshire were given the final stamp of approval on Tuesday, much to the delight of the communities. Members of the council’s economy and infrastructure committee discussed applications for the community asset transfers of both Kirkcowan Hall and New Luce Memorial Hall The Kirkcowan Hall, also known as St Couan’s Hall, has been in the care of a volunteer hall management committee since 2017, who have helped raise funds by holding events and fundraisers.

Meanwhile, the New Luce Memorial Hall has been run by the New Luce Memorial Hall SCIO since 2018, with a number of improvements carried out in that time. Now the volunteer management committee have asked to take it on fully in order for the continued use of the building by community groups, for events to take place and for the hall to act as the community resilience centre. Speaking in favour of the proposals, Mid Galloway and Wigtown West Cllr Richard Marsh said during the meeting: “The social value and importance of this (Kirkcowan Hall) being taken on by the group is huge, and I truly feel that this could be the catalyst for the regeneration and revitalisation of a small rural village. “I think the group taking this on will absolutely regenerate it into the hub of the community once again and I look forward to that coming to fruition. “And again, at New Luce, a volunteer group has been diligently looking after this assets since the early 1990s. Now a SCIO has taken stewardship of the building and the community has a guaranteed track record of delivery be it the community council or the development trust or in this case the New Luce Memorial Hall, so I have no doubt this will again become a future-proofed hub of that community” Both proposals were passed without additional conditions from councillors.