Scroll down the page to see images of the proposed Ground Floor and Upper Floor Plan for Dalry Public Hall.

Summary
Dalry DREAM Ltd is a company limited by guarantee. Its directors are from the small town of Dalry in North Ayrshire. The company was incorporated in 2008. It proposes to own, develop and manage Dalry Public Hall located in Dalry, North Ayrshire on behalf of the local community. The hall is currently owned and operated by North Ayrshire Council, although it was originally built by the Blair family with the help of donations from the public during the late 19th century. The title deeds for the hall stipulate that it is to be used as a public hall "for all time coming".

North Ayrshire Council proposed to close Dalry Public Hall in January 2005. In the event, it was decided by the Educational Services Committee that the future of the Public Hall should be placed "under review" pending the opening of a replacement primary school in 2007. Whilst no formal conclusion on this review has been reached, it is known that the Council would prefer to close the hall, especially if a viable community use for the building can be found.

To this end, Dalry DREAM Ltd has applied for a £60,000 technical assistance grant from BIG Lottery. If approved, this would enable Dalry DREAM Ltd to do the following:

• Develop detailed plans for the refurbishment of the hall, and submit applications for planning permission, listed building and a building warrant
• Build the capacity of the board of directors, and
• Employ a development officer to manage the project.

The overall aim is to redevelop the hall as a financially sustainable social enterprise by providing a range of services which will aid the social, economic and physical regeneration of Dalry. These services will include:

• a nursery for the provision of ante-pre-school education (already existing),
• adult education classes,
• exercise and healthy living groups for all sections of the community
• additional services to young people and
• new office space for small businesses.

The completed public hall will benefit the 6,130 people who live in Dalry and its surrounding areas.

A more detailed account of the proposal follows underneath.

Background
Dalry Public Hall was built at a time when local authorities did not exist for leisure and recreation purposes. Historical records indicate that notable members of the public voluntarily donated sufficient funds to build the hall.

Demand for the space the hall provides has continued despite changes in leisure patterns. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the closure of the James Street Centre during the 1990s displaced groups such as Playtime Nursery, the Brownies/Guides and Art Club. The James Street Centre was a community centre that was owned and operated by the Council. It was closed to save public funds, and concentrated more users into the remaining hall accommodation in the town.

Secondly, the number of public houses in Dalry has declined as leisure patterns have changed. These traditional meeting places have often closed in response to falling demand as new forms of leisure and entertainment have emerged. Public halls have, to a degree, filled this gap. Parties and social nights are now held in the public hall which, in the past, would often have taken place in the function suites of public houses. Since the public hall is centrally located within the town, people still feel that they are having a "night out" and can make use of other town centre facilities, such as takeaways. This helps to sustain the evening economy and may help compensate for the decline in public houses.

Thirdly, there have been various hobbies that people have taken up that require a large indoor venue. These hobbies include yoga, tai chi, karate, badminton. There are few venues in Dalry available for these activities. Although there are other halls, these are typically unavailable to accommodate the users of the public hall at the times when key groups and clubs meet. Even allowing for re-scheduling, our research shows that there is not enough spare capacity available. Furthermore, users of the hall report that they are happy with the space and its location in the town. It generates a sense of place and character that is not easily replicated in a modern hall. This also makes it attractive to its users.

2005 Review of Public Halls
In January 2005, North Ayrshire Council considered closing Dalry Public Hall following a review of its public halls portfolio. This review was based on the demand for halls and community centres and their running costs, including major capital works that would be required to prolong their life span.

From the evidence available, it appears that the hall was recommended for closure because its roof had reached the end of its useful life and needed to be replaced. There was no evidence to suggest it was (or is) a dangerous building or that it was under-utilised.

At the same time as the closure was proposed, the Council was embarking on a major investment project in Dalry to replace a primary school. The new school would include community facilities (but these would be available for public use only outwith school times). On the basis that the new school facilities would offer some form of compensation or replacement facility, it was recommended by the officials that Dalry Public Hall should be closed. Users unable to make use of the new school were expected to relocate to the Dalry Community Centre, a 1970s building run by the Dalry Community Association with funding from North Ayrshire Council.

There is no evidence that any meaningful community consultation took place on the proposals made by the Council officials. It appears to have been an opportunity to rationalize service provision in a manner that was not properly researched.

If the closure proposal had been approved, the public hall would then have been placed on the market and, if sold, would have gained the Council a capital receipt.

Even although no formal consultation with the community had taken place, concern had been expressed directly to the elected members by hall users that the new school and existing community centre would not meet their needs. Reasons given were that the community centre was already operating close to capacity, and that it would be unable to accommodate a pre-school nursery along with its existing commitments. Furthermore, due to new housebuilding and a rising birth rate, it was also considered that the new nursery at the primary school would have insufficient capacity to accommodate the children who attended Playtime Nursery - a key user of the Public Hall. In the event, these predictions have proved to be accurate.

The formation of DREAM
After the replacement primary school opened in August 2007, it quickly became evident that it would not be a suitable venue for transferring the user base of the public hall. On a positive note, this was partly because it offered additional services and facilities not available beforehand, such as astro turf football pitches. It was also evident that the Community Centre, seen by the Council as an alternative to the school, would already operating at capacity.

As a direct result, DREAM was formed. It was originally constituted simply as a committee of local people in November 2007.

As a direct result of Dalry DREAM Ltd's proposal, agreement has been reached with the Council that the hall will remain open and fully functional during the lottery application process. Although no formal review has taken place since that time, it is noted that the hall continues to attract significant use throughout the year. It has a regular user base, including a children's nursery, a youth club, yoga club, tai chi group, craft club, slimmers club, Working for Families meetings, community council meetings, councillors and MP/MSP surgeries.

Furthermore, the hall attracts lets from other organizations and groups on an ad hoc basis, ranging from children's entertainment to fashion shows. The facilities in the new primary school are well used, since these mainly offer sporting activities organized by KA Leisure and the Dalry Community Sports Club. Demand for the space within Dalry Community Centre has also held up, and it is operating at capacity.

Perhaps the most important current user of the hall is Playtime Nursery, which has been running in various forms since the late 1970s. Playtime Nursery has already had to relocate from another hall in the town (James Street Centre) which the council closed in the 1990s. At present, 32 children attend Playtime Nursery for their ante-pre-school year. There is a waiting list for 6 children, who cannot get a place. The other nursery in the town, Dalry Nursery, also does not have the capacity for these children, and has a waiting list for 8 children. Playtime Nursery therefore needs a home. In the event of the public hall closing, Playtime Nursery have been offered 4 afternoon slots in the Community Centre, but this would adversely affect childcare arrangements and reduce the sessions (currently, Playtime Nursery provides 5 morning sessions, which integrates well with work patterns and school times). It would be the preference of Playtime Nursery to remain in the Public Hall, where it would be a key user and a significant contributor to the DREAM project, both in terms of the long term financial sustainability of the hall and in terms of attracting many families to use the hall.

As far as Dalry DREAM Ltd are concerned, the evidence is that the public hall remains necessary if Dalry is to provide adequate accommodation for all its voluntary leisure, recreational and sporting clubs both now and in the future. However, Dalry DREAM Ltd also recognizes that there are unmet needs within the community, primarily in youth diversionary activities. It considers that the public hall would be well-placed to accommodate expansion of such activities due to its town centre location. There is already a successful youth club which meets in the public hall. But significant progress requires to be made in order to reduce the now chronic level of vandalism and petty crime affecting many parts of the town. Dalry DREAM Ltd believe that this serious problem is partly caused by the lack of facilities for young people and the subsequent lack of pride and respect some of the youth have for their home town.

The work of DREAM
In principle, Dalry DREAM Ltd have reached agreement with the Council to transfer ownership to the community if a workable business plan can be developed and external funding is secured.

At a meeting organised by Kenneth Gibson MSP in February 2008, representatives of Big Lottery and CEiS stated their informal support for the DREAM initiative. John Duncan of Big Lottery attended this meeting. The idea of lottery funding was first suggested at that time.

From the outset, Kenneth Gibson MSP and local councillors were very supportive of the DREAM idea. This can be evidenced from the minutes of the meetings - See our MINUTES page here on s1dalry. A well-attended public meeting for the benefit of all community and voluntary groups in Dalry was held on 22nd April 2008.

DREAM learned that there is community support for keeping the public hall open, and that Dalry does not want to lose another of its historic buildings which has met social and community needs for well over a century and could continue to do so into the future. During 2008, the Council demolished the former Dalry Primary School, which was a stone building of similar age to the Public Hall, and a landmark within the town. This demolition, which many saw as needless, caused great concern. Many people in Dalry felt that it could have been marketed for sale, rather than demolished. A similar concern extends to the public hall. However, DREAM believes that the public hall is a more flexible building than the primary school was, and that it could be adapted to meet future needs.

Dalry DREAM Ltd want to build partnerships with other key agencies serving the community, as well as voluntary groups and organizations that would generate sufficient income to re-focus the public hall as a centre for social enterprise as well as continuing its traditional role.

Dalry DREAM Ltd recognizes that the needs of the community could be met in a number of ways, and the public hall is just one possibility. Following an options appraisal, Dalry DREAM Ltd consider that the public hall is a key asset within the town, and believe that it is ideally placed to meet the future needs of a growing and changing community.

The added value of an older, established building would be:

• its "sense of place" and therefore connection to the past, present and future
• its location at the heart of the town, making it accessible to all
• its social, economic and cultural contribution to the regeneration of Dalry town centre, and complementing the physical regeneration initiatives led by the Council
• building on what is already in existence is preferable to "starting from scratch" on another site

The outcomes for the community would be:

• much improved accommodation for Playtime Nursery, bringing about improvements to the quality of the nursery experience for 3 year olds
• much improved accommodation for Blair Youth Club, enabling the provision of a greater range of diversionary activities for local youth, with reduced levels of vandalism in the town as a result
• bringing together services that would enhance life chances that are currently delivered on an ad hoc basis - eg. Working for Families, including vocational training and health education
• better access to computers and new technology to support skills development, without the need to own a home computer

Progress made by DREAM
After the approval of an Outline Proposal to the Big Lottery Fund's Growing Community Assets area of investment in June 2008, DREAM became a company limited by guarantee in July 2008, known as Dalry DREAM Ltd.

An application for an Investing in Ideas grant of £10,000 was approved by Big Lottery in October 2008.

In October 2009, Dalry DREAM Ltd applied to the Big Lottery Fund for a £60,000 Technical Assistance grant. If approved, this grant will enable the following work to be undertaken:

• Produce detailed plans and costs (to RIAS stage D) for the refurbishment of Dalry Public Hall.
• Apply for statutory consents (eg. planning permission, listed building consent and building warrant).
• Carry out capacity building and training with existing and new Directors in order to manage the Hall fully and effectively.
• Employ a member of staff to apply for funding to secure the necessary resources for delivering the project

To do so Dalry DREAM Ltd hopes to:

• Engage a Design Team to produce detailed plans and apply for planning permission/listed building consent and a building warrant to refurbish and upgrade Dalry Public Hall,
• Engage consultants specialising in capacity building and skills training to equip the people involved with DREAM to deal with the delivery of the proposal
• Employ a development worker who would be tasked with managing the project, fundraising in the community, and applying to a range of funders including charitable trusts and foundations, the Big Lottery Fund and other large strategic funders.

Dalry DREAM Ltd will model its approach on that of a Development Trust, enabling the company to tackle the issues and challenges Dalry is facing now and in the future in a financially and environmentally sustainable way.

Current estimates for the future bid suggest that a budget of around £750,000 would be required to refurbish the hall. Around half of this would be sought from Big Lottery.