‘Canteen would be ideal village hall’ (From South Wales Guardian)

‘Canteen would be ideal village hall’

5:00pm Thursday 20th September 2012 in News

AN old building formerly used as a canteen by Betws miners could make an ideal village hall.

That is the opinion of Cllr Dewi Branch, who feels the derelict building off Maesquarre Road could be transformed into the village hall Betws has never had.

“Betws is the only village is the area without a village hall or a meeting point,” he told colleagues.

“Some people feelweshould use the rugby club – I feel you cannot mix the two.

“I’ve noticed the old derelict building near to Amman Engineering that used to be the canteen for Betws miners lying idle.

“When you think howmuch the National Coal Board took out of this community, couldn’t we get them to donate it back? That canteen is part of the history of Betws.” Council chairwoman Anne Sizmur said the search for a suitable hall had been ongoing for a number of years.

“It’s not just a question of acquiring the land, you have to have enough financial support to run it,” she said. “You obviously cannot do so without a caretaker.”

However, she conceded the former canteen had never been considered as a possible venue.