A COMMUNITY facility for Magor could be funded by £250,000 of development money.

The facility, which could comprise a small meeting hall/ community café and a larger hall, could be developed on the Three Fields Site in Magor if allocation of Section 106 money is approved by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) later today (7th September).

The Three Fields Site in Magor has been a site long associated with development since it was acquired by MCC in 2010.

A 20 year lease with Magor with Undy Sports and Leisure Association was established, who devised a scheme which achieved planning consent and utilised previous S106 funding and Community Council funds to undertake on site works including a car park and orchard. The group however, was unable to achieve grant funding for its development and became in breach of its lease agreement in February 2015. The lease was subsequently surrendered back to the Council, which has been working with GAVO to support the local community in developing an alternative proposal.

In June of this year Three Fields Trust was incorporated as a limited company which was established to develop a community building on the site and undertake a community asset transfer of the land.

The proposal from the trust indicates that with the allocation of the Kingfisher Rise S106 funding together with funding from one of the Trust partners it will be in a position to undertake the initial phase development.

The Kingfisher Rise S106 funding is for the development of adult recreational facilities. The funding was paid to the Council on the 31st July 2015 and has to be spent within a five year period. The funding has been retained for the Three Fields development, but has not been formally allocated to date due to the uncertainties over the project. The creation of the Three Fields Trust has removed this uncertainty and the Council has confidence that this project can now be delivered.

The release of this funding combined with partner funding would enable the trust to undertake the development without recourse to large external grant funders making the project more readily viable, assuming planning consent can be achieved.

The scheme has been devised following local consultation and the plans have been drawn up to enable further phases of development assuming additional funding can be secured. The plans also have regard to the potential for a Magor rail station which could be incorporated within this site.

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A decision on whether to allocate the Section 106 monies to the Three Fields site will be made today.