The De Valence Trust has voiced its dismay at a decision by Tenby Town Council to adopt a new grants policy that would see a cap of £5,000 given out to organisations.

The policy was agreed at the last meeting of the town council when the majority of councillors gave their backing to the new written grants policy drawn up by a working party group made up of members of the town council.

Councillors believe that the policy will provide clearer guidelines and criteria when awarding grant aid to organisations. It stated in the policy that in any eventuality grants given out would be up to a maximum of £5,000.

However, the De Valence Trust which was recently given a £35,000 grant aid package by the town council to assist with the costings of running the building stated in a letter that the decision to apply the new policy could seriously jeopardise the future of the venue.

A 'notice of motion' signed by Clrs. Mrs. Christine Brown, David Stock, Mrs. Karen Hart, Mrs, Caroline Thomas and Paul Rapi to rescind the decision to approve the recommendations set out by the grants policy committee was withdrawn in the council chamber at a meeting of the town council on Tuesday night, with the town clerk, Mr. Andrew Davies explaining to members that 'standing orders' stated that resolutions made on recommendations of a council committee or sub-committee could not be rebated under a 'notice of motion'. Therefore as the resolution was from a recommendation from the grants policy sub-committee, the matter could not be reconsidered for six months.

In a letter handed out around the council table from the De Valence Trust, the organisation said that it was profoundly disappointing that the policy had been adopted without any prior consultation.

"Surely the De Valence Trust is not a routine grant situation, given the past management history by the town council and the property issues," wrote Mrs. Kath Osborne, company secretary of the De Valence Trust.

"It might reasonably have been determined that the new policy would not apply to the Trust. It if was considered appropriate to apply the policy to the Trust, would it not have been appropriate to consult with us before making a decision?

"The business plan we have drafted, and we hoped to discuss with you in the near future, is now irrelevant as many expenditure items would be outside the control of the Trust.

"It would appear that the town council does not wish to have a long-term relationship with the Trust, and the Trust now seems to have no option but to plan for closure of its operations in 2011," continued Mrs. Osborne.

Although the letter from the Trust was brought before councillors to read, members agreed that it should be discussed by the working party group of the De Valence who were due to meet the following day.