A VILLAGE which has no proper hall has just learned that planning permission has been turned down.

But that's not necessarily a disaster - because it has another site up its sleeve.

Milton Abbas was granted permission to build a new school at Catherine's Well - and one of the original schemes included plans for a community hall.

In the event, the school was never built, and - even worse - the old Victorian school in The Street closed for ever last year, causing dismay and consternation.

But the aspiration for a new hall remains and Milton Abbas Trust for Community and Heritage (Match) is taking the initiative forward.

Originally Match had hoped to offer the village the choice of two sites for the long-planned hall.

Trustee Martin Barratt said many people had expressed a keen wish for the hall to go up at the sports field - rather than at Catherine's Well - which is why Match put in an application for that site.

But the group learned on January 31 that planning chiefs at North Dorset had turned down the application on the grounds that it was separate from the village, intruded on the skyline and was too big.

He is not discouraged by the failure of the sports field application - although Match had hoped to offer villagers a choice of site.

"We're not going to get any further with it (on the sports field) but at least it simplifies the situation," he said.

"We're very, very keen on progressing with it.

"It's an opportunity to revitalise ourselves and get moving on it."

But if it is built, it won't be soon enough for Martin's youngest child Daniel, 13, who has been stopped from attending Winterborne Whitechurch's youth club.

He understood that Whitechurch had to put its own youngsters first, Martin said.

"But there's nowhere for him to go at all," he added.

"I do sympathise with the kids. What we should be doing is giving them some facilities here."

First published: February 1, 2006