Funding blow for Crossgar hall as council pulls plug

Funding blow for Crossgar hall as council pulls plug

14 February 2024

THE Public Services Ombudsman has been asked to investigate a decision by Newry, Mourne and Down Council to refuse funding for a community hall in Crossgar which could now be forced to close.

The volunteers who run the War Memorial Community Hall have been locked in a year-long battle with the local authority to have £3,000 in annual funding restored to help meet running costs.

They say the decision to end crucial financial support for the John Street hall — which has been at the heart of village life since 1952 — means it now faces an uncertain future.

Labelling the decision “unfair”, the hall’s management committee confirmed it has approached the Ombudsman for help as it has been left with no other choice, with the local authority steadfastly refusing overturn its funding decision.

Committee members insist the ruling to refuse grant support is based on what they believe are a number of flaws in the council’s application form.

They had been hoping to secure grant aid for four years to meet the hall’s running costs and ensure it remained open for business.

At the hall committee’s most recent meeting it was unanimously agreed to take its complaint against the local authority to the Ombudsman to scrutinise the grant application process, having  exhausted the council’s internal complaints process.

Committee chairwoman Ann Patterson said describing the funding refusal and lack of council support as a “disappointment” would be an understatement.

She said the committee workED very hard all year round to maintain what is Crossgar’s only community hall for its hundreds of weekly users.

“We feel very let down by those who should be supporting such a community facility, like they do elsewhere across the district,” Ms Patterson continued.

“When we see the reasons for our grant application rejection, there is a sense that the council is more eager to find fault than merit in our application.”

Last spring, the Crossgar committee lost its appeal against the funding refusal by the local authority’s Programmes Unit and is now being assisted by Rowallane councillor Callum Bowsie, who revealed his investigations suggest the decision was based on a “number of inaccurate assessments and presumptions”.

He was told there was no evidence that the hall was available for public hire but said when he looked at the application form, this was not the case.

“Room hire, as well as being a given, was undoubtedly stated in the Crossgar group’s application form and on its accompanying account statements under income,” Cllr Bowsie said.

“There were also several cases whereby the hall had been penalised for answering ambiguous questions not clearly enough. Some questions on the form regarding budgets were numbered incorrectly and were even in the wrong order, implying that alternative information was being requested.”

The Rowallane councillor said when he repeatedly raised these particular issues at three different levels within the council, there was no acceptance they were ever acknowledged. 

He confirmed the organisation has since overhauled its application forms for financial assistance to community groups.

He continued: “Funding issues like this are all the more serious when such minor technicalities have such major consequences.

“We are talking about the sustainability of Crossgar’s only community hall being under threat, all because of how a funding form has been understood and an unwillingness to accept obvious flaws. 

“Having tried to resolve this dispute between the council and the hall committee amicably and privately for almost a year, it is unfortunate that the group has been left with no other option than to present its case to the Public Services Ombudsman, who will look at the case independently.”

Cllr Bowsie said the case “represents a wider underfunding by the council in Crossgar” which is the largest village in the district without a community centre funded in some way by the the local authority.

“In a village with over 2,000 people plus a large rural population, the council doesn’t provide a single community structure other than a public toilet which is falling apart,” he continued.

“It is the people of Crossgar who ultimately suffer as a result of this decision as they are the ones who now have to now pay higher prices to use the three halls in this community building. If it closes, is the local authority prepared to spend millions so there is at least one community centre in the mid-Rowallane area?”

Cllr Bowsie added: “The Council will happily spend thousands of pounds on active and healthy living campaigns, but not £57 per week on the sole facility in Crossgar which can hold such activities for all ages and backgrounds throughout the year.” 

A council spokeswoman said it operated a number of grants and financial assistance programmes to contribute towards community projects.

The spokeswoman said this was an “open and transparent process” operated through the council’s Financial Assistance Policy. 

“The council can confirm that it received a complaint in relation to an application for financial assistance under the programme area of ‘Service Level Agreements’ which was dealt with through the internal complaints process,” she said.

“As part of the complaints handling procedure, the council advises that anyone unhappy with the council’s response to their complaint may contact the Public Services Ombudsman. It would be inappropriate for the council to comment further on this matter at this stage.”