RESIDENTS in Fishguard and Goodwick could be asked to pay up to an extra £1 a month on their council tax next year to enhance one community facility and maintain another.

The Lota Project is applying to the council for a grant of £10,000 to kick start fundraising for the skate park section of the park.

Theatr Gwaun is also asking for a £12,000 grant to ensure that the theatre can continue to provide a mix of film, live broadcasts and theatre events in Fishguard.

Both organisations presented at a public meeting called by mayor, Janet Wyer, in Fishguard Town Hall last Monday.

“The time has come for the council to set the council tax precept for next year,” said mayor Janet Wyer. “We’ve had big requests for funding and we’ve decided that it is not just up to the town council to decide it should be open to the community.”

Chairman of the Friends of Theatre Gwaun, Richard Goswell, said that the theatre needed the extra £12,000 as a "matter of survival".

He said the theatre was running at a loss for a second consecutive year.

“It is almost impossible to make a living out of showing films,” he said. Adding that large distributors make life “almost impossible” for small cinemas, insisting that new releases are shown more than 20 times and taking 60 percent of the box office.

He said the theatre had imposed “draconian measures” to try to claw back some of the loss but needed help to subsidise the day to day running costs of the venue, if not it could be closed down by the charity commission.

He added that the county’s other multi use theatre, the Torch received substantial funding from both Pembrokeshire County Council and the Welsh Arts Council, neither of which funded Theatr Gwaun at present.

“The theatre is the last surviving cultural centre that we have,” he said. “We have shown that we can make it work but unless we have funding we will not be able to continue to do it.

“We have curtailed it right down to the bone, anything else and we will start to bleed.”

The Lota Project has asked the council for £10,000 to kick start fundraising for a skate park. The project recently won a bid for two new pieces of play equipment in the park, with a third to be installed in March. The project is now focusing on raising cash for a £55,000 skate park.

It hopes that the money already raised and funding from the town council would attract match funding and show a willingness with in the community to revamp the park.

“We want to make the park amazing,” said the project’s Dani O’Connor. “We want to keep young people in Fishguard, so they can play in Fishguard rather than having to go elsewhere.”

Cllr Pat Davies added:

“Young people are getting on the bus to Haverfordwest with scooters and skateboards or skating in the car park. A skate park is really needed in Fishguard,” she said.

Mayor Wyer said that the town council’s precept on a band D property would go up by £4.24 a year if the council provided £10,000 of funding, £8.48 a year if it provided £20,000 of funding and £12.72 a year if it provided £30,000 of funding.

“The whole point of this is to be open and honest about the precept,” said Cllr Paul Mason. “Any funding is for this town. It’s not going to go out of this town. It’s going to benefit the town.”