BLANDFORD has a great chance to secure a community hall in the north of the town - but leaders will have to get their act together fast.

North Dorset has more than £3 million of Liveability money to spend on projects just like this and developer Persimmon has already promised £70,000.

But conditions attached by both funders demand that the hall is built by spring 2006.

It can be done but leaders will have to jump through lots of hoops to make it happen.

Mayor Gerry Chapman said a questionnaire had been sent out to see if there was public support for a hall. He hoped people would reply quickly so the town could get on with submitting a proposal to Liveability.

"Then we will know whether we have got a chance," he said.

"If there's an overwhelming lack of interest or a 'no', liveability aren't even going to look at us, but if they respond positively we have got the basic building block to get the money."

The land had been allocated at Badbury Heights and the funding from Persimmon and from the liveability would go "a long way" towards building the hall, he said.

"We have got a large and still expanding population in the northern half of the town," Cllr Chapman added.

"The Damory Down estate has been here for 20 years - there's one telephone box which they keep trying to take away and one or maybe two post boxes.

"There is absolutely nothing there for them and we don't want to see the top half of town suffer the same.

"This (funding) has given us a chance."

Jan Templeton who administers Liveability the funding said: "We have to spend the money by March 2006 when the projects have to be completed.

"We have had discussions and the sooner the town council get the proposal in, the better."

It would then need to go through further consultation with other bodies before the green light could be given - a process which would take ten weeks, she said.

First published: October 26