Axed funding ‘a blow to community schemes’ says North Herefordshire MP

Community groups in Herefordshire have suffered a “devastating blow” from the government withdrawing funding for their projects, one of the county’s MPs has said.

Green MP for North Herefordshire Ellie Chowns said in the Commons that its announcement two days before Christmas that it was dropping the final round of the £150-million Community Ownership Fund (COF) was “a devastating blow to organisations, charities and community groups”.

She cited as Much Marcle Community Shop, Pencombe Parish Council “which wanted to buy the local pub”, and disability charity Echo as among those losing out in the county.

She asked Leader of the House Lucy Powell MP “why the Government pulled the rug out from under projects such as those, and how they will support community projects to serve their communities”.

Ms Powell replied that despite having taken “the very difficult decision”, the Government “remains committed to community empowerment”.

Coun James Lewis, chair of Pencombe Parish Council, explained it had been trying for some time buy the Wheelwrights Arms in the village, near Bromyard, which closed last summer.

“We put quite a bit of work in on the bid,” he said. “It was a valuable local asset, a proper village pub where you went to find an electrician or who was selling firewood.”

But now without funding, “we don’t think a village of our size can raise enough money on our own”, he added.

Much Marcle Community Shop had already raised over £100,000 locally for its combined shop, post office and café plan, a spokesperson said, adding that the extra from the fund “would have covered everything we needed to build, stock and open the shop”.

They said the news from the government “wasn’t a complete surprise”, despite Ms Chowns having pressed the group’s case with the government in October.

But with planning permission secured for the scheme, and a promise of help from Herefordshire Council, “we still hope to hear from generous donors and from grant-funding bodies to make our shop vision a reality”, they added.

Mike Cook, chief officer of Echo which supports disabled people in Herefordshire, said the charity had been looking at applying for COF cash to help secure its Eaton Barn community garden near Leominster.

“We will now have to look at other sources,” he said.