Parish meeting for the Almonry has only raised more questions

I read the article in February 14 Bexhill & Battle Observer on the Almonry with a degree of disbelief as it did not reflect what actually occurred at the meeting on January 22.

Firstly it was a formal Parish Meeting to discuss the works for the Almonry proposed by the Town Council and apparently to date handled behind closed doors with no public involvement.

It has reached a stage where the council is apparently now intending to invite tenders for the works to cover three main elements:-

1 Repairs

To rectify the previous works and ongoing maintenance of the Grade 2 building

2 Refurbishment

To reconfigure the internal layout to meet future requirements and new legislative requirements.

3 New Build

Rebuild of past south wing of the Almonry to provide additional space.

No firm costs have been provided by the council but it has been indicated that the works would require a loan of £600,000 to be paid off by the ratepayers over some 50 years as no other funding can be obtained.

The main focus of the meeting was on items 2&3.

It transpired that there is no formal requirement laid down for the revised accommodation. Hence no schedule of requirements or scope of works is available for consideration.

Similarly it appeared there was no firm requirement for the new construction.

It appeared that no feasibility study or business case has been carried out for either the refurbishment or new build.

A comment was made that certain information was of a confidential commercial nature, but why that should prevent discussion of the need for the works was not explained or justified

The value of the loan was also challenged as other studies indicated that the overall cost to the ratepayers could be in the order of £700,000 to £1million.

A vote was taken at the meeting on the motion that the council should only proceed with the repair work at this stage which was carried by a large majority.

The refurbishment and new build was to be subject to the Parish Assembly to be held In April

As it was a formal meeting minutes were produced. However they have not been published on the town council web site or made available to the public.

It is of great concern that these works are being progressed by the council ‘in camera’ without involving the community and potentially burdening the rate payers with a significant debt load for 50 years for something of debateable usage.