29 October 2010
At a meeting of the Braintree District Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee last night (Wednesday 27th October), a senior officer of the District Council stated that closure of Silver End Village Hall would not take place and confirmed that there was no policy that justified closure of Silver End Village Hall, which is a well used facility that covers its running costs.
The statement ended the saga of threats of closure previously made by a BDC Cabinet Member. On several occasions, including at the September Cabinet meeting of BDC, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for halls stated that closure was an option and that this could take place after 31st March 2011 if 3rd party management was not by then in place.
The ending of the closure threat was welcomed by the local groups, the parish council and local district councillors who were present at the meeting and who all gave presentations to the committee calling for an end to the uncertainty and for dialogue.
A round table meeting is to be set up for a date in November where representatives from BDC, the regular users of the hall, the parish council and local district councillors will take part. Local District Councillor James Abbott has been calling for such a meeting for 3 months.
Cllr. James Abbott, District Councillor for Silver End said
"We welcome the ending of the threat of closure of Silver End Village Hall. It has taken many months of work by the local community to get to this point, and could have been dealt with much sooner by BDC, but clearly it is a big step in the right direction.
The council has stated this week that it wished to end "rumours" and "speculation" regarding closure. But the primary source of information that the hall could close was the Cabinet Member.
We also welcome the agreement there there should be a round table meeting to try and take matters forward. This is something we have called for over several months. It will be an opportunity to look at the financial figures and to consider options for future management.
I have asked that there be no pre-conditions to this meeting - no threats of closure, no threats of major fee hikes and a clear understanding that whilst we will of course discuss in detail options for local management, should that not be achieved, BDC will retain the management of the hall and run it for the benefit of the local community - which is after all the Council's policy as agreed in July 2009."
After a 2 hour sitting, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed to the request from local District Councillors James Abbott and Philip Hughes for an Inquiry to be set up into BDC's management of the issues surrounding the hall. Evidence will be requested from senior officers, Cabinet councillors, groups who use the village hall and the local parish and district councillors. The Inquiry is expected to last for up to 2 months.
Cllr. Philip Hughes, fellow District Councillor for Silver End said
"We welcome the Committee decision to agree to our request for an Inquiry. This will offer the opportunity for a much more in-depth scrutiny of all the issues, including the concerns over fees, the closure of the Seedlings pre-school group, the confusion over policy on the closure of the hall and other issues that have arisen in recent months.
In the meantime, we hope that this is a new beginning and from now on the district council will engage in an open dialogue with the local community on the basis that the village hall is secure. We all want the village hall to be a success."
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