Save Horsham Town Hall
|
|
|
Latest Campaign News : Letters from Horsham residents highlight HDC failings Outrage from Horsham residents at HDC behaviour! Horsham residents views ignored as HDC puts Town Hall up for sale Future of Town Hall looked at again - lets get it right this time! New hope for Town Hall community use Town Hall acts as memorable backdrop to Festival of Sound 2011 Trust's award bid for Old Town Hall Horsham District Council gets knuckles rapped by District Auditor over Town Hall bid process Big Society in Horsham : the Big Hope or a Big Pile ? Horsham District Council press ahead with 'doomed' restaurant plan : we re- examine the issues Was there a delay caused by campaigners or the Court case? The facts! Restaurant says 'no' to town hall Campaigners stand fast as Bill's is beaten Removal of Stopping-up Order notice signals the end of Council's Old Town Hall restaurant project? More Horsham residents respond to councils 'being held to ransom' article Old Town Hall talks over before they start HDC : Never let the truth get in the way of a good story Judicial Review: Did Horsham District Council mislead the High Court? Results of Judicial Review request Full text of the press release to the West Sussex County Times in the wake of the Court judgement Horsham residents set the record straight over councils 'being held to ransom' article |
We'd love to get answers to the questions below and we'll be inviting Horsham District Council to provide some - watch this space! If you wish to provide an answer email it to : Campaign@savehorshamtownhall.co.uk * * *
1. Bill's Produce apparently hasn't
committed to opening in the evening at Horsham. How does a restaurant that
is shut in the evening contribute to the impression of a thriving
restaurant quarter?
A: ?
2. What is the Council contingency plan if Bill's Produce does not stay in
the Old Town Hall for very long and no other restaurant (understandably)
wants to touch it? With a large hole cut between the two floors won't we
be left with an unusable shell of a building?
A. ?
3. How can the Council claim that a restaurant in the OTH is good for the
local economy when it is the Horsham evening economy that is struggling
(particularly Sunday to Thursday) and Bill's won't be open in the evening.
A. ?
4. How can the Council claim that a restaurant in the OTH is good for
the local economy when their restaurant consultant told them it might be
a threat to two named businesses in the area? Don't we unnecessarily
risk sacrificing an iconic historical building to create one
restaurant and lose two?
A. ?
5. How can the restaurant contribute to the local economy compared to
the community plan that benefited all businesses in the area? Won't yet
another restaurant most likely simply further dilute the
existing restaurant spend in the area?
A. ?
6. Why can't the restaurant go into any of the other available
locations? Why does it have to desecrate an historical building
like the Old Town Hall.
A. ?
7. The community proposal as recommended in early 2006 committed to using local produce and local suppliers wherever possible, thereby contributing to the local economy. On the other hand, Bill's Produce only claims "seasonal produce" and this seems on the basis that at some time, somewhere in the world, the produce is seasonal. A lot of Bill's produce appears to be imported. Why did the Council not take the community option therefore?
A ?
8. The Council has a policy in favour of Fairtrade
products for the essentially imported items like tea coffee etc -
which the community proposal adopted. Has the Council been given
a similar assurance by Bill's Produce that he will utilise Fairtrade
products for imported items? This doesn't seem to be the case
currently.
A ?
9. Why didn't the Council adopt the low risk option
of the community proposal in 2006 as it required only minimal changes
to the building? Even if the community proposal had unexpectedly not
worked in the last four years the, Council and particularly the
Special Charge Payers would have been a lot better off. By contrast,
if Bill's Produce doesn't work in the Town Hall, this historic
building will be rendered empty and useless for ever more, as a
result of them cutting a large hole between the floors.
A?
10. Why did the Council ditch its long standing
commitment to a disabled lift in the Old Town Hall? How can the
Council propose "public exhibition space" in the
Registrar's old meeting room on the first floor if disabled people
can't get to it? Or has he Council now revised its policy to exclude
disabled people from being members of the public? The community
proposal made provision for a disabled lift.
A?
11. Doesn't the lack of a disabled lift in the
restaurant plans exclude or discourage the possibility of disabled
restaurant workers?
A?
12.
A?
13. The community proposal allowed people to
continue to book the ground floor and the upper floor. Why did
the Council not sensibly adopt this proposal in line with the
September 2006 Council resolution? Wouldn't it have saved a lot of
wasted money in recent years? It would also give the public what they
overwhelmingly want for the Old Town Hall and immediately stop the
unbudgeted waste today?
A?
|
