ST JOHN Ambulance Hall is Launceston is now officially in the ownership of Launceston Town Council, with keys handed over to the new trustees last week.

The past few years have seen discussions between former trustees and St John Ambulance, as the hall had been registered with the Land Registry by St John Ambulance, while a conveyance from 1935 said ‘in the event that St John no longer use the property, the trustees are to use the proceeds of any sale or the property itself for the benefit of the inhabitants of the borough of Launceston’.

The Launceston branch of St John Ambulance folded around a couple of years ago, and some in the town raised concerns that the hall could be sold off by St John Ambulance, although at the time a spokesman for St John Ambulance told the Post there was ‘no intention whatsoever of trying to sell the building’.

There have been efforts to have the hall re-registered as per the 1935 conveyance, and as of June the proprietor is now listed through HM Land Registry as Launceston Town Council.

Town councillor Brian Hogan, who became involved with the talks during his time as mayor — as the mayor was one of the lay trustees — said: “We want it to be part of the town’s portfolio of properties. They [St John Ambulance] changed the Land Registry, we said it shouldn’t have been.

“I said I want the terms of the conveyance fulfilled and the property to come back to the town.

“The situation is now the town council have taken over management and total running of the building. They are going to keep it as it is for the moment. I think the town council need to think carefully what they want to do with the building.”

Cllr Hogan gave his assurance that those currently hiring and using the hall would be able to continue to do so: “I want to reassure people nothing is going to change, all the people that hire it at the moment will still be able to hire it,” he said.

“St John will still do some training. They have booked the hall for ‘x’ number of days this year. There’s no intention of stopping St John having a presence in the town. The fact they haven’t got a local branch anymore is not of our making.”

On the transfer of the building, the existing trustees retired, and new trustees are the town mayor, deputy mayor, chair of the town council’s estates committee, the town clerk and the town council’s responsible financial officer.

Cllr Hogan expressed his thanks to the retiring trustees, the town council, all past members of St John Ambulance Brigade Launceston branch, Mr D Heelas of St John properties department, to the people of Launceston and to Gill and Tony Taplin for their years of service to St John and the town, and the county of Cornwall.

l THE handover marks somewhat of an end of an era for former hall manager Tony Taplin, who has given 25 years of loyal service to St John Ambulance.

He said: “It’s a shame really — 102 years we have been in Launceston.

“It is sad really but the thing I’m really pleased about is the building is staying in the town — it’s been handed to the council by the trustees.”

The local branch was set up in 1915 by Dr Thomas William Shepherd.

Mr Taplin joined in 1992 and was involved with teaching the three cross award in local schools. He was superintendent, and was the last officer for the Launceston branch before it folded.

He said: “It’s a big part of my life really — 25 years and I’ve had some real happy times.

“We didn’t have a National Health ambulance service until 1947. St John had an ambulance and somebody used to volunteer. If the doctor had to attend somebody he used to ring St John. There was an ambulance service before the NHS.

“Mum used to pay into a fund — sixpence a week — for the local doctor so they would look after the children and make sure they were alright.”

Mr Taplin said he got involved with St John Ambulance after taking a first aid course, following his grandson suffering a cut. He took the first aid course because he said he ‘ought to know a bit more’. After becoming a member of St John Ambulance he later became a member of St John Association — the teaching side — and was made a serving brother, then officer of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.

He concluded of St John Ambulance: “They did a brilliant service for the town and lots of people must have some beautiful memories of St John.”