Chepstow Town council hopes to buy the Drill Hall from Monmouthshire County Council, at present the building is leased by the town council.

The shock move came after a heated discussion at last month's full council meeting over a proposal to fund the installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the Drill Hall, members of the finance committee last week unanimously approved to fully fund the project up to £21,000.

Town councillors Ned Heywood and Marian Lewis, the Chair and Secretary (respectively) of the Drill Hall Committee, came under fire after entering into talks with private investors to fund the project before consulting members of the town council.

Cllr Heywood asked the council to fund part of the project along with private investors. He added funding would have to be agreed during the meeting in order to have the solar panels installed by March 3 - the cut off point for the Government's higher rate feed-in tariff.

Concerns were raised by members over the potential for the tax payer to compensate private investors should something go wrong. Members were split, with some happy to support the scheme and others unconvinced of the financial implications.

The Drill Hall is leased by the town council from Monmouthshire Council meaning it would be purchasing solar panels for a building it doesn't own. Others raised concerns that asking private investors to be involved was "using a building paid for by the community as a use for commercial gain".

However, at last week's finance meeting the Chair, Cllr Phylip Hobson said: "I think this is a fantastic opportunity and we don't want to miss the boat, but having private investors involved does not sit comfortably with me.

"I would rather we funded the whole thing then the liability lies solely with us."

He added: "If we get this higher rate tariff we would get a guaranteed return of around £165,000 and we could pay off the cost of the solar panels in about six years. That's a heck of an investment."

He also said he and Cllr Heywood along with the town council's legal clerk had discussed the possibility of using the financial return to purchase the Drill Hall from MCC.

Town clerk, Sandra Bushell said she would approach MCC on the possible sale. The proposal was put to vote and unanimously approved.