Reader’s Letter: Is the Jerwood offer to Hastings a Pandora’s box?

In her latest [Hastings] Borough Leader column, Cllr Kim Forward writes that ‘Cabinet will discuss’ the Jerwood Foundation’s offer to gift its Art Gallery building, among the iconic netshops on the Stade, to Hastings Borough Council (HBC).

Originally a highly controversial project, the gallery opened in 2012, having foretold huge visitor numbers as part of its persuasive planning application.

These multi-thousand visitors never materialised. The now-named Hastings Contemporary has been in receipt of an Arts Council NPO grant of £100,000. The termination date for these, currently 828 nationally, NPO’s (National Portfolio Organisations) grants is 31st March 2023. After which date there is no news of what income, other than ticket and shop sales, these worthy arts venues will have.

Why now is it suddenly so eager to offload the building and the ground it stands on to the ratepayers of Hastings aka HBC?

Readers may recall that Jerwood insisted it wouldn’t come to Hastings unless it was given the ground under its building and the building itself free of all charges in perpetuity.

HBC has since invested heavily in retail property, when savvy investors were getting out of retail. Now it is saddled for years with repayments on its retail estate. It needs to take serious impartial advice on the Jerwood Charity’s offer, not be seduced by the prospect of regaining ownership of a bit of The Stade plus a box of a building covered in over 8,000 black tiles and a caff with a splendid view. The tiles may fall off as soon HBC takes ownership and reveal a Pandora’s box containing all the financial (in this case) woes of the world which, HBC as the legal sole owner, will be saddled with for generations to come.

Electors need to be told what will happen if HBC rejects Jerwood’s offer. Will we be left with yet another empty building crumbling and graffiti-sprayed on what is arguably the most famous spot in Hastings? And please don’t suggest that it becomes yet another publicly-owned ‘performing arts venue!’

SEE ALSO: Reader’s Letter: Don’t let Hastings become another Ashford - say yes to the BID

Have you read....: Major St Leonards housing development withdrawn

Please send your letters to [email protected]. Letters must be accompanied by a full name and address. Anonymous letters are never printed. We reserve the right to edit letters for any reason.

For the latest breaking news where you live in Sussex, follow us on Twitter @Sussex_World and like us on Facebook @SussexWorldUK