Three options for future of Clair Hall put forward by consultants

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Mid Sussex District Council has been offered £6.5m from a business interested in buying the Clair Hall site.

The information was shared in a property review of the venue, in Haywards Heath, though no details were given, for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

But leader Jonathan Ash-Edwards has repeated previous assurances that the council was not looking to sell the site.

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Clair Hall in Haywards Heath is currently being used by the NHS as a vaccination centreClair Hall in Haywards Heath is currently being used by the NHS as a vaccination centre
Clair Hall in Haywards Heath is currently being used by the NHS as a vaccination centre

Since then it has been used by the NHS as a Covid vaccination centre – while the council has commissioned BOP Consultancy to explore options for the hall’s future.

An interim report from BOP will be discussed during a meeting of the cabinet on Monday (July 18), with three suggestions on the table.

While a public consultation last year showed a strong preference for the 51-year-old site to be refurbished, two of the three suggestions were for development.

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The first suggested cultural facilities only, while the second included other uses as well.

The third option was for the refurbishment of the existing buildings by a leaseholder who could afford to maintain and run the hall and all its existing buildings.

While this idea would be undoubtedly popular, the cost would be steep.

To bring the building up to modern operational standards – including the removal of asbestos and paying for all repairs and maintenance – some £2.9million would need to be spent within five years.

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The costs over a 30-year period, which would include the neighbouring Redwood Centre, would come to £5.7million.

Mr Ash-Edwards said: “BOP’s interim report reveals, amongst other things, that the cultural provision in Haywards Heath is typical for a town of its size and that the council should stay open-minded and might need to look for something unique for the Clair Hall site to meet the needs of the local audience.

“At the cabinet meeting, we will be discussing the draft objectives, non-negotiables and success criteria for the next stage of the work.

“This includes a commitment that the council is not looking to sell the site.”

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This commitment was one of several non-negotiable positions laid down by a Members’ Steering Group set up to oversee and steer the work.

Others essentially said that combining a variety of uses for the site might be the best way to make it ‘viable and impactful for residents’ – and that any organisation which moved on to the site would have to be self-funding ‘to avoid being a drain on council taxpayers’.

The latter did not sit well with Liberal Democrat leader group Alison Bennett.

She suggested by ruling out any investment or council subsidy the Conservatives were sending out the message that the ‘bottom line is all that matters’.

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She was also concerned that BOP’s report was ‘driving the district down one route’ – demolition of Clair Hall and its redevelopment by a third party.

She added: “The parallels with the fate of the Martlets Hall, in Burgess Hill, are striking, and ought to be treated as a cautionary tale by whoever is in charge of Mid Sussex District Council.”

A final report from BOP is expected to be completed after the summer.

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