Ownership of town hall is 'opportunity' for Bognor Regis Town Council

The grade II listed building, on Clarence Road, is currently owned by Arun District Council, but some residents have been pushing to see the facility given over to the town itself for several years.

"I think there’s been a desire over the last few years for some kind of town ownership,” said Bognor Regis Town Councillor Paul Wells. “And obviously I think the news that Arun want to open up discussions with the town council in that direction is a good opportunity to explore those options. Obviously it has to be made to work for the future, but I know the town hall is one of the crown jewels of Bognor, and I know a lot of residents are passionate about it.”

One such resident is Mandee Keeling-Ward. Several years ago, she led a local drive to win the town hall’s grade II listing and, amid fears that they could be axed, created a petition designed to protect face-to-face services at the facility. She’s optimistic about the idea, but agrees with Cllr Wells that it will have to be made financially viable.

"The most difficult thing is the money side of it – it needs help and upkeep, in some places I think it’s in quite a bad state,” she explained.

Alongside the potential transfer councillors also discussed applying to the government’s Community Ownership Fund for a grant which, if successful, might help modernise the building.

Speaking at the meeting, Leader of the opposition Shaun Gunner (Con, Rustington East) raised the fact that committee members Matt Stanley (LDem Marine), Jim Brooks (Ind, Marine Ward), Roger Nash (Lab, Pevensey) and Francis Oppler (LDem, Orchard) are also current town councillors.

He said: “I’m surprised this report has no costings to it – I would imagine based on my own experience that that building has a valuation of somewhere around £1 million.

“If we were to transfer that freely to Bognor Regis I would hope that every other parish would receive a similar benefit in kind because obviously this would be a significant subsidy from the region to Bognor Regis.”

Some committee members also discussed moving the council’s back offices at Bognor Regis to the Littlehampton Civic Centre.

This could mean Bognor Regis locals lose immediate physical access to district council services.

For people like Cllr Wells and Mrs Keeling-Ward, that’s something to be avoided; they say the district council provide a range of vital services.

"Personally, I think it’s essential that Arun have a presence in the town,” he said.

“Because there’s clearly a lot of local demand, and lot of need, for people to access those services in the town.

"People shouldn’t have to trudge across to Littlehampton. In my opinion, there has got to be some sort of official front of house service here in Bognor.”