Bexhill Town Hall site redevelopment to be discussed
Rother District Council should ‘do nothing’ with its headquarters for the time being, say officers.
On Monday (July 27), its cabinet is due to discuss a report linked to the potential redevelopment of Bexhill Town Hall site in Amherst Road. The land includes 1 and 2 The Villas, the former Autolec premises, a pay-and-display car park and the council’s main offices.
Cabinet members had previously agreed to spend £45,000 to investigate the feasibility of redeveloping parts of the site to create temporary accommodation.
Officers also looked into whether the council should sell parts of the land to a social housing provider or another form of housing developer.
Cabinet members are due to consider the results of these appraisals and decide the next steps.
In a report to cabinet, officers say the favoured option would be to “do nothing for now”.
Officers say this recommendation is based on the fact The Villas are being let out and generate income for the council.
There is also uncertainty around whether the site will be needed after Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
In the report, a council spokesman said: “Having considered the financial appraisal, the current position of The Villas and the wider strategic uncertainty created by Local Government Reorganisation, the recommended course of action is Option A: to do nothing for now.
“This approach avoids disrupting recently established commercial lettings at The Villas, which are already generating income and have the potential to provide a steady ongoing revenue stream to the council.
“It also avoids committing the council to redevelopment or disposal decisions at a point when the future requirements of the Town Hall site under a new Unitary Authority remain unclear.
“The recommendation is therefore a prudent and proportionate response, allowing the Council to retain flexibility, protect existing income, and reconsider the site once there is greater certainty about future civic, operational and asset management requirements under LGR.”
The report says development options were provided following the cabinet decision last year.
Officers say architects drew up eight potential layouts. These are considered to be commercially sensitive and have not been made publicly available.
The options had involved refurbishing and converting The Villas into residential accommodation and retaining the Amherst buildings and Town Hall as council offices.
Officers say these options would be “financially challenging”, unless they resulted in the provision of temporary accommodation (as this would result in a direct saving to the council).
When discussed last year, the feasibility work had initially been presented as being part of the Town Hall Renaissance Project — a redevelopment scheme involving the renovation of the existing town hall building alongside plans to build flats and new office buildings on the wider site.
This form of the project was refused planning permission in October 2022 and no revised plans has come forward since then.
In October last year, the council issued a statement such a scheme would be “hard to justify” in a post-covid world “where previous demand for office space and other alternative uses have reduced.”