Public Won't Have To Pay A Penny For A New Arts Venue - Says Council Leader
12th April 2018
By Peter Chapman
Burgess Hill Town Council Leader Pru Moore made it crystal clear at last night's Annual Town Meeting that the public will not be asked to pay a penny towards any proposed new performance and community venue in the town after residents previously rejected a loan worth £9.5 million.
Local resident Andy Genders asked a question at St John's Church during the audience participation section of the meeting.
The exchange went like this:
Andy Genders: I ran the 'Just say no' campaign on Facebook. Can the council now confirm that they won't be asking the public to pay for this venue in the future? That's part one of my question, and my second question is: As you have fundementally failed at the first step to represent the public body, are the committee going to step down and revisit this whole farce from afresh?
Pru Moore: No, we are not going to ask you to pay for a loan again.
Andy Genders: Sorry, that wasn't the question, it was, are you not going to ask us to pay for the venue?
Pru Moore: Payment for the venue? Yep, oh, I see what you mean. Well, if we were going to ask the residents to pay towards the venue, it would be in the form of a loan, so the answer would be no, we're not going to go back down that avenue.
Andy Genders: Can I minute that?
Pru Moore: Yes you can minute that,.
I think we've stated that on several occasions, so no, we are not going back down that route. We are exploring other avenues because there are other avenues but they will take a lot longer
Andy Genders: Is the committee going to step down?
Pru Moore: No, no it's not. The committee has done a huge amount of work and I don't accept that the communication has been bad. You know, we had a public meeting here last year, it has been in the 'About Town' two or three times, that goes to every, every household, we can't help it if people don't read it. We have put out an enormous amount of..... not propaganda... as that's what we were avoiding, an awful lot of information has gone out.
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Funding a new performance and community venue will not be expected of Joe Public. Your council leader has assured us of this. Great news.
| Spread the word, the public will not be expected to pay for a replacement performance and community venue in the town.
|
 Got an opinion on this story? Leave a comment below.....
What do you think of Pru Moore saying that the public will not be expected to pay for a new performance and community venue in the town? Does she really mean it?
|
