Tenby Town Council has agreed to give the De Valence Trust an advance on its loan, to help overcome the cash flow problems that the Trust is currently experiencing.

The board of the Upper Frog Street pavilion had written to the council asking if they would consider giving the Trust a loan of £10,000 for six months.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting of the council, at which the loan request was discussed, the De Valence Trust's new chairman, Mike Neal, and new director, Victoria Smathers, gave a presentation over their vision for the Tenby venue.

"We are confident with this new team that we can make it work and look forward to the challenge," said the Trust's new director, who has previously worked for the Theatre Royal Bath and Bristol Old Vic.

She also explained to councillors the greater need for the financial loan at this time of year.

"Your grant is unconditional to us and we are very grateful for it," she said. "Although we have many grant applications in place, these take time to process and we feel the venue could benefit from your loan at this time of year when things are quiet and we can build for the rest of the year.

"The venue can only work if it is supported by the people of Tenby and yourselves, so we all need to be singing from the same song sheet and all helping to have a community venue which is viable for community projects; it hasn't been that in the past and I believe that is why it has not worked."

New chairman Mr. Neal also explained how the requested loan would help with the Trust's cashflow.

"It's true that the Trust is facing some financial difficulties. As we are out of season, things are slow in the winter and the loan would help address our cash flow problem. It's a matter of timing, as like all businesses at this time of year, we are looking to tighten our belts, and we need more of a cash injection in the winter and less in the summer," he said.

"Income takes time and what we need to look at straightaway is expenditure," added Mr. Neal.

Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, felt that the town council had to be very careful when considering the loan.

"Lots of businesses suffer at this time of year, but not everyone is reliant on a cash injection of £47,000, which is a third of a whole of the town council's income," she remarked. "We have to be very careful with what we do with that."

Later, during the council meeting, when discussing the possibility of giving the De Valence Trust a loan advance, the Mayor remained cautious.

"I find it hard to justify this loan; it concerns me that over the past three years, this council has put an awful amount of money into the Trust, and I would be cautious about going into next year's finances," she stated.

Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter, agreed.

"How would this look to our auditors if they came to look at our books now? We can't keep throwing money into the Trust, we're not a bottomless pit," she remarked.

Clr. Mike Evans suggested that it would be of no financial burden to the council's rates if they were to loan the Trust now the money for February, March and April.

"The money is sitting in our coffers, so I would say that we could afford the Trust an advancement for the next three months and no further than that.

"This would help to alleviate their problem and clear their overdraft initially and give them some breathing space. It doesn't mean we are giving them anymore money," commented Clr. Evans, with Clr. Mrs. Julie Evans concurring.

"We would just be adjusting the timing and not increasing the amount and giving the Trust a cash injection," she said.

After a vote, the majority agreed to giving an advancement of three months loan of grant and rent to the Trust.

"We look forward to seeing all these community projects in place at the venue," added Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas.