Plans for a new trust to run Tenby's De Valence Pavilion have hit a hitch, with uncertainty over the body's eligibility for charitable rate relief.

Since the venue reverted back into Tenby Town Council ownership following the liquidation of the De Valence Trust last year, members of the council have been considering options for the building.

In a bid to try and offset some of the running costs to help reduce the tax burden on the ratepayers of the town, and to provide a facility for community use, the council decided that the most effective way for this to be done would be through setting up a new trust, which they have called the DVP Tenby Trust, which would also re-open the venue for hire.

However, following advice from the county council's senior revenue officer, Mr. Andrew Sparkes, the town clerk, Mr. Andrew Davies, informed members of the town council at their meeting on Tuesday night that it seemed the Trust wouldn't be eligible for rate relief due to certain conditions which would need to be fulfilled for discretionary rate relief to be considered.

The town council still has its offices at the premises and holds its meetings once a fortnight in the Mayor's Parlour, which also forms part of the De Valence building.

"While Tenby TownCouncil occupies any part of the premises, the premises would be considered to be 'excepted' and as such, not eligible for charitable relief," Mr. Sparkes explained in correspondence.

"With regard to the DVP Tenby Trust occupation, qualification for charitable rate relief would only apply while the premises were used for charitable purposes, i.e. occupied only by non-profit making organisations whose main objects are charitable or philanthropic etc.

"To summarise, if the town council is in occupation of any elements of the property, irrespective of the owner, unless the Valuation Office Agency can split the area and issue two rateable values, rate relief cannot be awarded.

"If the assessment was split, there would still remain a question regarding whether the property is wholly or predominantly used for charitable or similar purpose, especially if there is evidence to suggest commercial lettings," added Mr. Sparkes.

Mr. Davies gave an update on the current status of the DVP Tenby Trust, which had now elected a chairman and vice-chairman and submitted papers to the Charity Commission, but he explained that progress had been delayed most significantly by the fact that a charitable body must have at least £5,000 in its account in order to be registered as a charity.

The town clerk also explained that he had taken advice from Mr. Laurence Harding, the monitoring officer for Pembrokeshire County Council, and that his role as a company secretary for the DVP Tenby Trust along with his position with the town council, meant that there could be a conflict of interest, so he informed members that he had already tendered his resignation to the Trust.

Clr. Mrs. Julie Evans asked her colleagues where the town council went from here with regards to the new Trust, as the rate relief issue seemed to be a huge set-back and would put everything back to square one.

"Now we know we gain no benefit from going down this route with regards to gaining rate relief from a new Trust, where do we go from here?" she said.

"I would love to wave a magic wand and make the De Valence an entertainments venue, but we seem to wasting our time with the situation and have let two opportunities from private investors go.

"The people I speak to in the town are not happy about the situation and it's shameful that we've ignored two of the options that were on the table.

"Some members of this council seem to be slightly deluded about our options. The building requires so much work at such a cost that we can't afford, and I don't see the point in going back to running it at a loss," she added.

As well as enquiries from national pub chain J. D. Wetherspoon and the owners of local aquarium Silent World about taking over the building, the firm SUB Live, which has been involved in running entertainment venues for over 20 years, had also shown an interest in operating the venue alongside the DVP Tenby Trust and had given two presentations to councillors on how it would see the partnership running the facility.

Clr. Mike Evans said that the forming of the Trust was to try and take things forward and make the best use of the facility for the town, while it was still under the ownership of the town council.

"What has been tried is a way of utilising the building. It's better to try and fail, than just let another asset of the community disappear; the town needs something for its youngsters and locals in general, " he said, with Clr. Mrs. Thomas stating that the town council should fight as hard as it could to keep the building as a community facility for Tenby.

Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain said that she thought that the best solution seemed to be to have parts of the building valued separately in a bid to obtain rate relief and a way of providing the Trust with the funds it required so that it could be registered as a charity.

Clr. Lawrence Blackhall said it would be sensible to ask the DVP Tenby Trust to respond to this latest information first before moving forward with any further discussions on the De Valence.