Brixham Signal
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BRIXHAM SIGNAL Brixham Town Council July 2021 Issue 54 Fresh Start For Town Hall Regeneration In the early part of 2020 Brixham Town Council engaged with the public about the possible Regeneration of the Town Hall by launching its consultation exercise, entitled “Your Town Hall, Your Say”. The end of the consultation was at a time when we found ourselves in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, like the rest of the nation and we were unable to proceed with further consultations and everything was put on hold, until now. The past year has also been unusual due to the loss of 5 members of the Council for various reasons, which gave existing and newly co-opted Councillors the opportunity to pause and re-boot the whole process, not least because at the time of writing none of us know what normal will look like in the short term. A new Town Hall Regeneration Task & Finish Group has been initiated by Brixham Town Council, and the members have decided to start from scratch by asking you to re-appraise us of your views about the future of the building (which does not include the Museum or the Library) by assuming that it is an empty shell with no tenants or the Council existing inside. If this were the case, what would attract your attention and enable you to use the facility? Do you want the Council to retain and develop the building’s use at all, or would you rather it be sold so that the funds could be directed towards your other priorities? For the purpose of the consultation, which you can find on pages 3, 4 & 5, or by scanning the QR code on this page, we are asking everyone to answer as individuals, not as members of organisation or groups, because we want to know what your preferences are so they may be given proper consideration within the process. We want to hear from as many people as possible, and we are also asking for our young people to take part as their input was conspicuously absent in 2020, but yet we know that there are views among them about favoured uses, and we want to capture that information this time around. Once the consultation has been completed, the responses will be assessed, alongside the outcome of the Council’s original consultation in 2020 to ensure that nobody’s point of view is overlooked. The results will then be shared in a future edition of the Signal before any decisions are taken about the way forward, but members of the Task & Finish Group want to assure you all that while there is no specific timeframe for any future works to be completed, whatever they may turn out to be, the Town Hall will be re-generated in the coming years so that it can be become the sustainable building that it needs to be. This may be in a piecemeal fashion as the years progress, or as a complete project, dependent upon funding streams that BTC are able to attract, and upon discussions with the tenants that already occupy the building. Members of the public who have experience in project development and management are invited to engage with the regeneration process by offering your services and joining the Task & Finish Group. We would urge you to make contact via the Town Council, on 01803 859678 or [email protected] to show your interest, so that an invitation can be sent to attend future meetings. The Town Hall belongs to us all, and we are determined to meet the challenge of ensuring that the space inside becomes accessible to all of our community in the future, should you want to use it individually or collectively, or simply attend events inside. What’s Inside this issue *Meet the new Chair & Vice-Chair of Brixham Town Council *Town Hall Regeneration Consultation *Brixham Signal Consultation *Telephone Box Update *Community Articles 1 Meet Your New Chair & Vice-Chair of Brixham Town Council On the 5th May 2021 at the Annual Full Council Meeting, members voted for their new Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. We wish them all the best in their new roles and look forward to working closely with them in the coming months. CHAIRPERSON Paul Addison has been a Town Councillor for the Furzeham with Summercombe Ward since the start of Brixham Town Council 14 years ago. He has ran his own businesses since 1968 and moved to Brixham and opened his own hardware store in 1987. He was a Special Constable for 34 years, 12 years with the Thames Valley Police and 22 years with Devon & Cornwall Constabulary based in Brixham as the Sergeant running a team of up to 15 Special Constables. He is a member of the Royal British Legion, currently President of the Brixham branch. He has been involved with many organisations over the years from being part of the Berkshire Association of Youth Clubs, a member of the Community Partnership, the Town Plan, Brixham Future, Town emergency Plan as well as one of the trustees who helped to keep Shoalstone Pool open when Torbay Council withdrew support. He is an avid reader with a keen interest in Numismatics and amateur radio. He is keen to keep Brixhams Heritage alive and to make the town a clean and safe place to live, work or visit. VICE-CHAIRPERSON Eleanor Hoggart has been one of the Town Councillors for the St Peters with St Mary’s ward since May 2019. She was a senior local government lawyer for over 30 years, with roles as lead solicitor for a number of Councils, culminating in being Assistant Practice Director for the innovative shared legal service for Lincolnshire Authorities prior to taking early retirement in October 2014, following which she began consultancy work for local authorities keen to examine their options for, among other things, shared services and how to create a resilient legal team in an age of austerity. Eleanor was national lead on Monitoring Officer and Governance issues for ‘Lawyers in Local Government’ for a number of years, in which role she regularly spoke at conferences and other events, also participating in the Review of Regulators being undertaken by the Parliamentary Committee on Standards in Public life, as well as the review of the common law offence of ‘misconduct in public office’ being undertaken by the Law Commission. She was also a member of the Law Society’s In-House Committee. She was introduced to Brixham, as so many people are, on holiday and, since 2016 she has been enjoying life in this beautiful community – particularly indulging her love of live music, live theatre and live rugby. In 2017 she was one of the group set up to help save Brixham Theatre from closure & subsequently became a Trustee of the new Brixham Theatre Charitable Organisation until 2019. 2 Town Hall Regeneration Survey 1. Name (Optional – if you choose to remain anonymous we would still like to hear from you.) 2. Are you a Brixham Resident? Yes No Visitor Second Home Owner Other 3. Organisation represented (if any) (optional) 4. Please provide us with your contact details (optional) Email Address Mobile Number Address 5. What, in a perfect world where money is no object, would you like the Town Hall Com- plex to become? 1= very low importance; 5 = High importance 1 2 3 4 5 Remain the same Entertainment and Art Centre Housing 6. What for you are the essential existing uses for the Town Hall Complex? 7. What new uses would you like to see included in any revamped Town Hall Complex? 3 Town Hall Regeneration Survey 8. What existing uses would you be happy were NOT included in any revamped Town Hall Complex? 9. What would be your view, if the outcome of the consultation is to see the whole Town Hall Complex? 1= very low importance; 5 = High importance 1 2 3 4 5 Relocate the whole administrative function of Brixham Town Council elsewhere in the Town Centre Relocate the whole administrative function of Brixham Town Hall Coun- cil elsewhere in the community outside of the Town Centre Sell part of the building – retaining administrative support elsewhere and keep all of the formal Council Meetings in the Scala Hall 10. If Brixham Town Council were only to sell part of the Town Hall Complex, which parts would you be happy to see sold? 1 = Disagree; 5 = Agree 1 2 3 4 5 The Scala Hall Brixham Does Care Shop The Theatre The rear Car Park The former Police House 11. If you do not agree with an sale or part sale of the Town Hall Complex, give your reasons why. 12. Before the COVID pandemic, were you a regular user of the Town Hall Complex, please indicate? 1 = Disagree; 5 = Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Brixham Town Council Reception Rented Office Space Scala Hall Theatre Brixham Does Care Town Council Function Room(s) Other 13. Once Life returns to normal, how do you think your use of the Town Hall Complex may change? 1= very low importance; 5 = High importance 1 2 3 4 5 Regular user - Theatre Public Access to formal Council Meetings only Never 4 Town Hall Regeneration Survey 14. Would you or your organization like to be invited to every meeting of the new Task & Finish Group? Yes No 15. Would you like to be informed of the dates and times of meetings and attend as and when you wish? Yes No 16. How would you prefer to communicate with us? Yes No Join our regular meetings Zoom meetings only Email only Regular face to face meetings only with your organization Ad hoc meetings with your organisation on request Only when significant milestone in the project are reached 17.