Battle for Arundel's Town Hall filed under "ended"

Understandably perhaps, Arun is feeling a little uncomfortable after losing its two-year battle to annex a piece of Arundel's heritage.

Thus, in relinquishing its claim to ownership of the Town Hall, it has expressed "disappointment" at the alleged "reluctance" of the town council to provide copies of documents which indicated it had a valid claim to own the Town Hall.

Some observers might see this allegation as a nice try in attempting to switch blame, but it cannot hide the fact that, with all its resources – a sizeable administration backed up by an experienced legal team –

Arun managed to "lose" a letter which exposed the absurdity of its ownership claim.

This crucial document, dated April 5, 1976, was sent by Arun's then chief executive to the then Arundel town clerk, informing him that the finance and general purposes and land sub-committee of the council "have decided that as the ownership of the Town Hall is vested in Arundel Town Council, the Arun District Council should cease to have any direct involvement in or responsibility for the running of these premises with effect from April 1, 1976."

We can but hope that Arun now has a fit-for-purpose records filing system which doesn't rely on its small and less-resourced parish/town councils to provide back-up when it "loses" important public information.

The town council's recent discovery of Arun's lost document among archives in the Town Hall tower came after the district council gave up its bid for the Town Hall and therefore played no part in that decision.

Perhaps it would be too much to expect Arun to apologise for its failings and the waste of public money resulting from its ownership claim.

Further, this unhappy episode has created an additional heavy workload for Arundel's town clerk and diverted town councillors from other duties.

At least all these efforts have been worthwhile.

The Town Hall has been retained for the people of Arundel and in the years ahead it is hoped we can transform this historic asset into a real community centre.

Peter Moss

Arundel town councillor

Wheelwrights Close, Arundel

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