DISCUSSIONS on the future ownership of Ashburton town hall are stalled until Teignbridge Council, the building's owners, gives a sale price to the town council.

The town council currently leases the 150-year-old Grade 2 listed building from Teignbridge, but at a recent meeting district-council officers presented Ashburton councillors with a list of five options on the future status of the hall.

John Middleton, Teignbridge's head of technical services, said that the rent would have to rise to pay for maintenance work.

'It is a grand old building, but like all old things it's starting to creak a bit,' he said.

He added that Ashburton's was the only town hall owned by Teignbridge Council.

The options for the town council are:

l To purchase the property directly from Teignbridge Council.

l To lease: either an internal repair lease, with Teignbridge Council being responsible for the external repair, or a full repair and insuring lease.

l Partnership: the town council would make use of one area of the town hall, and the other area would be redeveloped as necessary.

l To relocate completely.

Denise Marchant, for Teignbridge Council, said that to do nothing was not an option. She also disclosed a 'not exceeding' purchase price for the town hall, but requested that it should not be released into the public domain.

In the discussion that followed it was quite clear that town councillors felt that the town hall was a vital part of Ashburton's heritage, and wanted to keep it that way. But they were worried about the financial implications for local residents and felt frustrated at the lack of detailed information from Teignbridge Council.

The mayor, Cllr Wendy Gill, said that it would be a very sad day if Ashburton lost its town hall.

'I would have to question my reason for being a town councillor if this ever happened,' she said. 'The town council is here to represent and look after the interests of the community.'

At last week's full meeting of Ashburton town council, councillors decided to refer the issue to their finance committee for an in-depth discussion.

Cllr Gill said that councillors needed firm facts and figures from Teignbridge.

'We can't go to the public with airy-fairy figures,' she said.

Deputy chairman Cllr Jonathan Richards said that he had his own views on the matter, but believed that councillors had to be objective.

'We need to get a survey done, and Teignbridge Council should give us some clue as to what they're expecting from us.'