Fears Haywards Heath community venue will be ‘chucked under a bus’

Fears over the future of a Haywards Heath community venue have been expressed by the Lib Dems.
Clair Hall, Haywards HeathClair Hall, Haywards Heath
Clair Hall, Haywards Heath

At a meeting on Wednesday, all Mid Sussex district councillors present voted for a financial package of support so Places Leisure can reopen The Triangle, The Dolphin and Kings leisure centres on September 1.

As part of the agreement, Haywards Heath’s Clair Hall would come out of the contract and the future of the site would be considered ‘at some future point’.

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Several Conservatives felt the meeting was not the right time to discuss the community venue’s future and they had to ‘get on’ with reopening the leisure centres.

Lib Dems outside Clair Hall in Feb 2018 at a planning hearing on the 500 homes in Hassocks. Left to right Cllr Roger Cartwright, County Cllr Kirsty Lord, Cllr Benedict Dempsey, and former county councillor Colin Wilsdon.Lib Dems outside Clair Hall in Feb 2018 at a planning hearing on the 500 homes in Hassocks. Left to right Cllr Roger Cartwright, County Cllr Kirsty Lord, Cllr Benedict Dempsey, and former county councillor Colin Wilsdon.
Lib Dems outside Clair Hall in Feb 2018 at a planning hearing on the 500 homes in Hassocks. Left to right Cllr Roger Cartwright, County Cllr Kirsty Lord, Cllr Benedict Dempsey, and former county councillor Colin Wilsdon.

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, leader of the council, described how Clair Hall had been running at ‘quite a significant loss and requires a subsidy even in good times’.

Currently the venue was ‘unviable to operate in a socially distanced way’.

One of three Lib Dem amendments, rejected by the Conservatives, sought reassurance that the future of Clair Hall would be properly assessed and that the people of Haywards Heath would not be left deprived of a valuable community asset.

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Richard Bates (LDem, Haywards Heath - Ashenground) who proposed the amendment on Clair Hall, said afterwards: “As a keen swimmer and member of The Dolphin Leisure Centre, I was happy to support the proposal last night and understand the need to remove Clair Hall from the contract to get leisure centres open.

“However, without additional reassurances I am very worried that this will be the thin end of the wedge, and we risk losing Clair Hall as a community asset.

“Incredibly, Conservative councillors from Haywards Heath voted against an amendment that would have made sure that the town does not lose its largest community venue.”

Robert Eggleston, Liberal Democrat deputy group leader, added: “Once again we see that the Mid Sussex Conservatives seem willing to sacrifice culture and the arts.

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“In 2018 the Martlets Hall was closed and Clair Hall was cited as an alternative venue. Indeed £35,000 of the Martlets relocation fund was used to pay for refurbishments at Clair Hall. Now it looks as though Clair Hall is also going to be chucked under a bus by the Tories.”

What do you think about the future of Clair Hall? Email your thought to the newsdesk.

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