Clair Hall closure questions ‘are not just going to go away’

This was the message from one Lib Dem councillor after a Mid Sussex District Council scrutiny committee voted to support the decision to shut the Haywards Heath venue.

The committee met online on Tuesday after the closure was called in for further debate by ten Lib Dems, who were concerned about the lack of consultation, both with the public and within the council itself.

During a sometimes peevish meeting, chairman Anne Boutrup admonished a number of councillors who, in her opinion, had strayed from the point of the discussion, while letting others talk at length about things which were equally wide of the mark.

The scrutiny ended when Jim Knight (Con, Haywards Heath – Lucastes) suggested the committee should support the closure decision and it was agreed by nine votes to three, with three abstentions.

Speaking after the meeting, Alison Bennett (Lib Dem, Hurstpierpoint & Downs) said: “Clair Hall’s closure is not going to go away just because the Conservatives have tried to bury it.

“There’s widespread public anger about this and the Liberal Democrats will do everything we can to make sure the council’s leaders are held to account for snatching the hall away from under its users’ noses.”

As well as the lack of a public consultation, one of the reasons for the call-in was the fact the closure was not included in September’s Forward Plan of key decisions.

Councils are required to give 28 days’ notice of a planned decision and most publish those in their Forward Plans.

When questioned by Cllr Bennett about the failure to do this, solicitor Tom Clark acknowledged that the Clair Hall decision should have been in the September plan.

He told Cllr Bennett the closure decision was not considered to be an urgent matter so could have been held over to the October plan.

The decision to permanently close Clair Hall, which hosted everything from yoga classes to blood donor sessions, was made in September, with officers being asked to come up with plans for a replacement in the future.

The closure led to an outcry, with almost 5,000 people signing a petition to save the hall.

John Belsey, cabinet member for service delivery, told members an outside organisation would be brought in this autumn and winter to carry out a consultation into the next steps for community facilities and the town’s regeneration.

After the meeting, Ms Bennett said there were plenty of unanswered questions about the closure.

Accusing the Conservatives of being ‘desperate to close down any discussion’, she said the Lib Dems’ request to bring in external witnesses to the meeting had been turned down.

She added: “We don’t expect Mid Sussex District Council to get everything right, but we do expect them to take scrutiny seriously because it is an essential part of ensuring that local government remains transparent, accountable and open.”