SOME late fireworks exploded into the evening air over Llanishen last Sunday, celebrating the results of a local election. Residents of the three parishes of Llanishen, Trellech Grange and Llanfihangel - Tor - y -Mynydd had turned out in force earlier in the day to vote in the ballot, which was supervised by the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (GAVO).
The election was required to provide the management committee with a mandate to proceed building a new village hall to replace the existing one, a corrugated iron structure erected just after World War I, and showing signs of old age. The charity trust-deed governing the hall required a 75% majority of residents to approve the sale of the existing one. An earlier ballot had resulted in only a 72% majority, preventing the scheme from going ahead at that time, despite planning permission having been granted and a lease of land from Monmouthshire County Council agreed in principle.
All this changed last Sunday, though, with over 300 votes being cast. This time, the majority in favour of selling the existing hall and building a new one was a decisive 83.2%.
The work for the hall committee will now begin in earnest, with many gallons of midnight oil being burnt as funding is sought, a lease negotiated and building tenders invited.
The proposed new hall is planned with ecology in mind, being of an "earth-sheltered" design similar to that of the Caer-Llan study centre at Lydart. This provides exceptional heat-retention capabilities, requiring minimal heating costs.
The new hall will also provide much-needed car parking facilities for the village, the grass verges of which are churned up regularly by hall-goers trying to find somewhere to park! It is also intended to provide sports facilities on the new site for the benefit of all.