Gunnislake Village Hall has been awarded £15,612 towards refurbishment and to create a new community space.

The Lower Hall, which was previously Gunnislake Social Club, is set to be reconfigured to provide a flexible community space with moveable partitions and three segregated work pods that can be used as single person offices.

The moveable partitions will allow the area to be subdivided for the needs of various activities that take place in the hall.

There are plans to remove the suspended ceiling to open the upper hall to its full height and to add a fully accessible disabled toilet.

Ross Hanley, chair of the management committee, said: “The hall needs some urgent attention to stop water leaks and damp caused by slipped roof tiles and failed guttering. To do these repairs will involve scaffolding the whole building, for which quotes amounting to some £30,000 have been received.

“This has to be done and it makes sense to take the opportunity to upgrade the hall to meet the future needs of the community. The plans now provide a road map for the hall to follow. After the work has been completed, the hall could accommodate many extra community groups, such as a youth groups, a snooker club, skittles and darts teams, rehearsal rooms, meeting rooms and many more activities.”

The last public consultation was held in the hall on Saturday (January 25) where the local Cornwall Councillor Dorothy Kirk discussed the proposals and chatted with attendees to gain their opinions.

Following the meeting, work will start on evaluating the cost of the planned work, prior to raising the money to pay for it.

The funding has been allocated from Cornwall Council’s Good Growth Programme and will pay for the services of Mitchell Architects from Plymouth.