Plans to close Haywards Heath community venue permanently

Last month Mid Sussex District Council agreed to remove Clair Hall in Perrymount Road from its leisure contract with Places Leisure.

At the time senior councillors noted the venue had been losing money for some time and was currently unviable to operate due to current social distancing restrictions.

Officers are now proposing permanent closure and a decision is set to be made by cabinet members next Monday (September 14).

They could also agree to use part of the site as a public car park, as well as looking to include a more modern community facility as part of any future regeneration scheme here or elsewhere in the town centre.

Officers argued that due to Clair Hall’s age, layout and changing needs of users, its level of usage has been decreasing for a number of years.

Meanwhile the cost of maintaining and repairing the building over the next 20 years is estimated to be in the range of £1million.

Clair Hall has continued to host blood donation sessions, but officers are now working with the NHS Blood and Transplant Team to identify suitable alternative venues for these sessions.

The car park has been used on occasions to host an ad-hoc military Covid-19 mobile testing unit.

The cabinet report suggests there are many alternative suitable venues such as church halls, community centres and sports pavilions since Clair Hall’s primary use is for meetings.

Haywards Heath College’s theatre and the soon to be completed refurbished council chamber at MSDC’s offices are mentioned as other larger spaces.

Meanwhile the Redwood Centre, formerly a day centre and since used by the Scouts and as a children’s nursery, could be demolished although discussions are suggested with the tenant as the first break under the lease is at May 2021.

Officers said they were working closely with Places Leisure to map out all regular users of Clair Hall and will be contacting them individually to better understand their needs and supporting them to find suitable alternative venues where required.

The report concluded: “Given the ongoing financial challenges facing the hall prior to Covid-19 and the further uncertainty created by the Government’s social distancing guidelines in relation to Covid-19 it was agreed to take the hall out of the contract.

“Given the type and levels of usage, it is proposed to permanently close the hall and to assist the current users to move to alternative provision.”

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.