Lib Dems Fight to Save Town Hall



Although heavily outnumbered the Liberal Democrat group, led by Cllr David Kendall, launched a last ditch bid to try and save the Town Hall at last night's Special Council meeting which had been arranged to decide the Town Hall's future (8/2/11).

The Liberal Democrats wanted further costing's to be provided to members on a proposal to refurbish the existing Town Hall but their amendment was voted down by the large Conservative majority. During his speech proposing the amendment Lib Dem Leader Cllr Kendall highlighted the following points:

• The Town Hall is the Borough Council's most valuable asset
• The Town Hall along with the Cathederal and Brentwood School are iconic buildings that give many residents great civic pride.
• The Lib Dems have always favoured the refurbishment option and against Coptfold House.
• We want to see a refurbishment of the Town Hall which does not involve wholesale structural changes. This would be similar to the refurbishment work already done in Social Services.
• We also want to see a full breakdown of what work needs to be done to the roof, the insulation to the walls, new windows and a new boiler.
• We look upon the Town Hall like a house. If you own a house you would repair it and try and bring it back to a good standard. Knocking it down would always be a last resort.

Speaking after the debate Cllr Kendall said:

"By rejecting our amendment the Conservatives have now only left two options on the table. One option will see the existing Town Hall building demolished completely and the other option will see about 10% of the existing building retained alongside a new building.

"We believe they have got this decision badly wrong and are very concerned about the long term impact it will have on our residents and on Brentwood as a whole. They blew a great opportunity tonight to seriously consider the refurbishment option in much more detail and in doing so put party dogma before the interests of Brentwood residents.

"Whilst on the night we may have lost the vote, we certainly won the argument and I believe in time the Conservatives will come to deeply regret this decision".