THE trustees of Market Lavington's new community hall project have defended themselves against charges of being undemocratic after they refused to hold another public meeting to discuss fresh plans to build the facility.

The project to replace the original dilapidated village hall, sold to Dalecare Nursing Home 12 years ago, has run into one problem after another, and now the trustees have said their only hope of building a new hall is to sell off part of the site rented to them by the parish council for housing.

They think they can raise between £350,000 and £400,000 towards the cost of building the new hall by selling off the land for development as a terrace of six or seven cottage-style homes.

But a public meeting held in March voted overwhelmingly not to sell off land to finance the building of the hall.

The trustees told that meeting, held at Lavington School, that they would look into producing a smaller building that needed less financial support.

Now they have come up with alternative plans that would cost about £500,000 to build, as opposed to £718,000 for the previous scheme. An illustration of what it would look like, as well as a drawing of the cottages, is included in the latest edition of Village Hall News, the newsletter put out by the Market Lavington Village Hall Management Trust.

Villagers have been asked to vote for or against the scheme and return forms to Christopher Saunders, an independent assessor living in Easterton, by December 15.

But opponents of the scheme are furious that they will not have the chance to discuss the plans at a public meeting.

Paul Waring, of St Mary's Road, near the site of the proposed hall, said: "Instead of there now being a meeting where people could air their views in public, we have to vote on the trust's plans from the information they have supplied. From what I have read, there appear to be more questions raised than answers given.

"However, I am unable to do this at a public meeting, which seems somewhat undemocratic."

But Peter Furminger, the chairman of the trustees, said they are complying with advice from the Charity Commissioners. He said: "Under the rules of the Charities Act 1993 we are obliged to consult with local people, but we do not have to hold a public meeting.

"We have to give them suitable notice and we have given people more than a month to respond. We are very conscious of people's feelings and wouldn't want to go against the prevailing opinions in the village."

But there is by no means unanimity in the village that Market Lavington, despite having over 2,000 residents, needs a community hall. Many would like to see the land left undeveloped, or used for a much smaller hall which the trustees could build without selling off land for housing.

The trust has £110,000 in its reserves and says it could call on another £95,000 from grants.

The trust has had two funding applications to the National Lottery rejected and it would not consider a third one unless it had already secured most of the funding for its scheme.

It insists anything smaller than the proposed hall will not be enough to cater for the burgeoning local community. In the latest edition of Village Hall News it says: "Our ever-expanding village needs a hub for its social activities, a place that all villagers can use, and of which we can all be proud."