One of the Island’s largest community halls is under threat of closure.

In what has been described as “a bolt from the blue”, Swale council has announced it wants to offload the Borough Hall, in Queenborough.

The building, in Main Road, is the only Swale council-owned hall on the Island and the cash-strapped authority says it can no longer afford to fund its repair and maintenance costs – believed to be in the region of £25,000 a year.

The council is now looking for community groups or other interested parties either to take over or buy the hall but should no viable business plan be submitted, the site will be sold at auction by the end of March 2012.

The proposal has come under fire from a Queenborough town councillor who claimed the first she knew of the plan was at a presentation last month.

Cllr Jackie Constable (Lab), also ward member for Queenborough on Swale council, said very few townspeople appeared to be aware of the threat.

“It has come out of the blue and it would be a huge loss,” she said.

“We have been down this road with Swale council and the Borough Hall before and we managed to keep it then, and we are not going to go down without a fight this time.”

She also criticised the results of a community assessment of the area, carried out by Swale council, Kent County Council and SEEDA, which concluded that there was “an oversupply of community 'halls’, ...serving similar purposes and none used to capacity, which is limiting the viability of them all.”

“The Borough Hall isn’t just for use by people in Queenborough, it is for the use of people across the Island,” said Cllr Constable.

“The problem is Swale council has priced itself out of the market by consistently raising charges at the Borough Hall so people just can’t afford to hire it.

“If Swale council can’t afford to run it, community groups won’t be able to either. Nobody has got any money to buy the hall.”

Queenborough Town Council is writing to all parish councils on the Island and to the Sheerness Society asking for their views.

The deadline for community groups/organisations to officially express an interest in the hall was on Wednesday.

Interested parties now have until December 30 to submit a formal application.

A Swale council spokesman said as the deadline had not yet closed, he was unable to disclose how much interest had been shown.

“Similarly, we would not say how much the building may be worth as this is commercially sensitive information if we were going to sell it at a future point,” he added.

Should the hall be sold, it is recommended the council uses some of the proceeds to replace the Queenborough and Rushenden Gateway Centre in Rushenden Road.

The Borough Hall, with a maximum capacity of 200, includes a lounge/bar area, cloakroom and kitchen.

It is used by a range of clubs and for various activities, parties and weddings.

Recently, four artist studios were set up within the building.