THE FUTURE of the Assembly Hall in Warminster is one step nearer safety after transfer plans received vital support last week.

The transfer of the hall from West Wiltshire District Council to Warminster Town Council next April looks set to go ahead, after being approved by the policy committee last Wednesday.

The town council will receive £80,000 towards the running of the hall over five years but the final transfer still has to be approved by the secretary of state.

The guidelines for the transfer have been the subject of intense bargaining over the past year, with the final handover fee set at £1.

Trevor Wringe, manager of Warminster Assembly Room, said it had been a long process but the hall now had an exciting future.

He said: "It is a big relief and it is nice to know where we are going as this hall has been successful for some time now.

"We are going to where we want to be. It is going to be run by people who really care about the hall.

"The trouble was we were only one building of many under the district council but we will be the only one for the town council."

Mr Wringe went on to say how much easier implementing ideas would be after the proposed changeover.

He added: "I have had to sit on my hands because I couldn't take more people on as I didn't know what was happening, until now."

As part of the deal West Wiltshire District Council is also giving the town council a one-off sum of £39,000 towards the cost of repairing the roof and other vital maintenance work.

There is also a seven-year covenant in place, meaning the town council cannot sell the hall on for financial gain within that time.