Town Hall Expenses Worry

The town council had two choices when it took over its lease in March, either sell it or make it work for the town, and it chose the latter.

The cost of running the town hall is around 27,000 per annum, which will be paid for in the town council precept, but residents Derek Edginton and Derek Waller are worried this will cause a massive council tax increase for the next year.

"Basically, this will mean the people of Arundel facing a 63 per cent increase in their parish precept over a three-year period," Mr Edginton claimed.

He asked the council how it proposed to avoid a further large increase in the precept next year, at the policy and finance committee meeting on Thursday.

In the longer term, he was told, the possible financial advantages of transfer to a trust can be examined further.

Other options, such as outright disposal or sale and lease back, would also be researched.

This would be done by the newly set-up town hall committee, whose remit includes examining future management arrangements for the town hall operation.

The town hall was leased to West Sussex County Council for use as a magistrates' court, but the court closed in December last year and the lease expired three months later.

Since then, the town council has carried out repairs and refurbishments, alongside making good reparations by the county council.

The idea is to make the town hall pay for itself by booking it out for civil weddings, parties and functions and it is hoped this will prevent running costs from being added to the parish precept.

Arun district councillor Clive Gardner also attended the meeting, and asked if bookings for the town hall didn't come up to expectations, could it be sold in a year's time.

Clive explained: "For a town such as Arundel, it is, of course, important to have a town hall. If it means that the precept is going to go up by 27,000 per annum then I think the town cannot afford it, and they should look at other resources. Give it a year and if they cannot do it, then they should consider selling."

Derek Waller said he had a feeling of disquiet over the level of likely expenditure, and asked if councillors would avoid expansion of organisation, activity and costs, and to bear in mind that the money spent was raised from the people of Arundel. He asked the committee if it would aim to save on expenditure compared with the current year.

Chairman Bill Redman said no decision would be taken as it was a stage in the budget process, and he added it was likely the final budget would be agreed at the committee's next meeting on December 19.