Approval has been given at the Housing and Technical Resources Committee to enable Calderwood Baptist Church to lease the hall with the intention of developing an application for a Community Asset Transfer (CAT).

The hall was among a number of assets that the board of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture agreed to withdraw from as part of their plans to balance their 2024-25 budget.

At this point, the application for Calderwood Hall is not a formal CAT request but the church will be granted a 100% rent-reduction for a one-year lease to allow its CAT application to be developed.

Calderwood Baptist Church aims to support their congregation and in turn provide support and assistance to the wider community.

It has an existing track record of building management and development, having previously acquired Hunter’s House Museum from the council a number of years ago and turning it into a successful café and meeting space.

The church wishes to use Calderwood Hall to continue to offer the diverse range of activities it currently runs, while consolidating and growing these to serve more of the local community.

It already has a strong record of partnership-working and its application is supported by a number of current hall users who endorsed its application and it is an integral member of the Connected Calderwood group that looks to improve service delivery to that community.

Councillor Davie McLachlan, Chair of Housing and Technical Resources at the Council, said: “This is great news for the community in keeping this valuable resource open, and it shows the value of the processes set up to address the lack of funding for premises like these across South Lanarkshire.

“The church is well-known across the area for its work in, and with, the community and has a proven track record of developing and maintaining a facility, so the benefits that the use of Calderwood Hall will let it bring are clear to see.

“This will also remove the costs of operating this asset from the Community Fightback Fund and make them available for other vital purposes.”

More information on Community Asset Transfers is available from the council website.