West Lothian Council propose to cut all funding for Murieston Village Hall from April 2026. Our community neeeds to act if we wish to save our Hall.
The costs West Lothian Council propose handing over responsibility for are: approx. £22,000 of annual running costs, including £15,500 in electricity costs; and all remediation costs. A West Lothian Council commissioned survey identified approx. £200,000 of remediation expected by 2031.
The community have a strong interest in community asset transfer of the Hall to Murieston Community Development Trust. However, they have not had any reassurance from West Lothian Council that road access is feasible to allow deliveries and disabled access. Their proposed plans are not viable without it. They will therefore not undertake any asset transfer until they can get further information.
At a public meeting on 21st October 2024, the 132 attendees gave unanimous support for the proposal that Murieston Initiative SCIO take a 2-year lease to give more time for our discussions with West Lothian Council. An enormous thank you to everyone who attended the meeting. The strength of public support gave us reassurance that we are taking the right steps.
West Lothian Council say that they cannot afford to let centres keep the income generated from lets any longer. As background, Murieston Initiative made a loss of between £1,500 and £5,500 in the 4 years prior to last year, primarily because West Lothian Council had given Simply Play a license to occupy the building free of charge. Since October 2023, attempts to standardise letting prices and start charging Simply Play have resulted in a surplus of £6,600. This is still not enough to make the proposition viable, so we need to increase our income and reduce our costs. Despite other efforts, there are likely to be increases in room hire rates. The implications are being worked out at present and a full business plan is being prepared.
Murieston Initiative have been ensuring there are more lets, which have already improved income. New since April 2024 are the weekly Saturday community cafe, the monthly Sunday cinema, weekly Monday tai chi and pilates classes, weekly Saturday Robotics Club, and a lot more private parties and other one-off bookings. There are also plans to start running monthly events to ensure the hall is fully used at weekends. However, Simply Play pulled out of all holiday lets after Murieston Initiative started charging, reducing forecast income and leaving the hall virtually unused mid-week during the holidays.
The most important cost reduction measure we can take is to improve enegy-efficiency. Our first steps after taking a lease will be to insulate the roof, replace the inefficient lighting with smart energy-efficient lighting, and install instant water heaters. For now, Murieston Initiative have investigated the consumption and now have better control of the heating. There has been no time to see the effect on Council bills.
Building maintenance costs would have to be covered by grant applications and other fundraising. In an environment where so many organisations are chasing the same money, it will require a lot of fundraising effort to achieve that consistently, and we will be looking for help and support from the community
The Glasgow Room currently has greater occupancy than the Edinburgh Room. Attempts are currently being made to make the Edinburgh Room more attractive for further lets. Although we’d love to make the hall more attractive, we are not permitted to paint the hall without using costly Council-approved traders until a lease is taken, so that will have to wait till April 2026.
The only chance to make our plans work depends on many volunteers helping. After our public meeting, we were delighted to get 8 volunteers as new trustees and 35 new general volunteers, bringing our total number of volunteers to around 60. Even more would help: lawyers, business leaders, planners, painters, joiners, plumbers, electricians, builders, gardeners, administrators, event organisers, and anyone willing to help occasionally with events and other volunteering. Contact us if you think you can help and we will add you to our growing volunteer WhatsApp group. Volunteering opportunities will be limited until the new lease is in place.
If we are successful, ownership of the land and building will eventually transfer to Murieston Community Development Trust, and our members will have a direct say in the future of the centre. Join the Trust to get voting rights and play a part.
Our long term aim is to provide better facilities for Murieston. We are proposing to raise funds to build a new community social hub more suited to the needs of our community. It will take at least 10 years and a lot of effort, but our vision is for a vibrant zero-energy centre with cafe/bar, shops, small multi-use theatre, and more and better rooms for community use. We will need community help to shape the future centre and consultations will take place on the exact form it will take.
We will be setting up a funding campaign to start raising funds. Watch this space!