Revised plan for Burgess Hill community arts centre gets green light

Despite the pandemic, Burgess Hill Town Council’s cultural steering group has been continuing to work away on plans for the 237-seat theatre and community venue in Cyprus Road, which is to replace Martlets Hall.

And on Monday, town councillors voted in favour of a revised plan that will see the venue delivered in three phases.

The first phase would see delivering the main auditorium, the second would see the second floor completed and the third would see the possible integration of Cyprus Hall.

Councillor Joseph Foster, deputy leader of the town council, told the meeting: “We have continued to work away on plans. We were planning a consultation with residents just before the pandemic hit – that obviously was not appropriate. But in the meantime we’ve been making good use of the time. We’ve been considering the request by some residents to consider a more broad-based plan – a plan that can be scaled over time – and to deliver an even better community facility.

“We have worked with Aedas, the architects, to look at changing the scheme that will improve deliverability and also allow for that longer-term aspiration regarding a fuller facility that incorporates the best of Cyprus Hall.”

Mr Foster said the architects have done an excellent job on the designs and said he was happy to say the committee, which includes members of the community who are engaged in the arts locally, support the revised plan.

He added: “I think the revised plan is an excellent one and has had excellent support.”

Town council leader Robert Eggleston, who sits on the planning committee, said he was reasonably confident that the construction of the venue could start in 2021.

He said the cultural steering group has been engaging with the Cyprus Hall Association about them coming on board to deliver ‘something the whole community can be proud of’.

Councillor Peter Chapman asked Mr Foster and Mr Eggleston what the chances were that people will warm to the scheme which follows the closure of Martlets Hall, as a regeneration scheme for that part of Burgess Hill is being progressed by New River.

The town council previously asked residents to pay for the venue with an increase in council tax but this was rejected.

Mr Chapman said: “There’s still anger out there with what’s happening with New River, covid has obviously made things worse and people are still annoyed Martlets Hall was perhaps needlessly given away.”

In response, Mr Foster said: “There will be residents who will continue to be frustrated by that especially given the progress to date and there is no doubt residents will raise that with us.

“I think as a council we have little control over those matters and this may be a case of focusing on things we can control – so we have a plan – we’re working out the finances.

“And I think we need to come up with an excellent communications plan for residents so that they are clear on what we’re proposing and why.

“I think also it’s reasonable for us to ask other councils in the area, such as Mid Sussex District Council, to consider making contributions via developer contributions and also there are other funds.

“We will engage with the district council and hopefully they will want to come with us on this journey.”

Mr Eggleston also said: “Clearly there were lessons to be learned from what happened before and the town council has learned those lessons – we’ve now got to move on.

“I think the things we need to recognise as a town is that we have a real shortage of good community space. We know that the demand is there just from the people that we talk to.

“And I think it’s important that it’s not just about putting on a show - it is about providing modern, 21st century facilities for a vast range of commercial, voluntary, charitable groups across the town who struggle to get what they need.

“And there’s no question that when we look at the excellent work that the architects have done, if we can deliver all three phases, it is just a real step change in the facilities that we have in Burgess Hill and as Joe said, we can control this. If we can convince the town, we can start to deliver in 2021.”

Councillor Andrew Barrett-Miles said he was still hugely behind the project and was ‘very encouraged’ by the meetings with the Cyprus Hall Association last week.

While councillor Lee Gibbs said: “I think it is worth remembering that we haven’t forgotten about the town as a whole. We’re not putting all our eggs in one basket on this. It’s something that’s been going on for a long time. I think we can see this in a number of ways, one of which is a commitment to getting on with council business even though it is very uncertain – and seeing something through that is an investment not only in the arts which have had a real hard time recently, but also in the community in general. And one day when we go back to normal we can think, well actually, eventually we got that over the line.”

The council confirmed a public consultation on the revised scheme will go ahead but a date is yet to be set due to the coronavirus pandemic.