Issue - meetings

Drill Hall

Meeting: 07/10/2021 - Cabinet (Item 42)

To consider the report of the Director of Community Services

Additional documents:

Appendix 1 - Drill Hall Plan ~ RBL - Issued , View reasons restricted (42/2)
Appendix 2 - HDC Response_From_RHBL , View reasons restricted (42/3)
Appendix 3 - Drill Hall report exempt appendix , View reasons restricted (42/4)

Decision:

TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL

i) That the Drill Hall is leased to the Horsham Branch, Royal British Legion from
1 April 2022 for a period of up to 30 years.

ii) To delegate authority to the Director of Place in consultation with the Head of Legal & Democratic to finalise the legal documentation and enter into a lease, subject to applicable consents, with the Horsham Branch, Royal British Legion for the Drill Hall.

iii) To delegate authority to the Director of Place to agree and finalise a schedule of works with the Horsham Branch, Royal British Legion to improve the Drill Hall.

REASON

The Horsham Branch, Royal British Legion (RBL) have expressed an interest in running the Drill Hall. This will have the following benefits:

i) The Drill Hall will continue to be available for community activities and events. The RBL have also expressed an ambition to grow and develop the role of the Drill Hall for the community.

ii) The fabric of the Drill Hall will be improved and become more energy efficient.

iii) The Council will make an annual revenue saving.

iv) It will provide a focal point for the Armed Forces in the District.

Minutes:

Councillor Roger Noel, Cabinet Member for Leisure & Culture, gave a brief summary of the report on the proposal from the Royal British Legion to lease the Drill Hall from the Council for 30 years at a peppercorn rent. Cabinet had considered the future of the Drill Hall in January 2020 because of concerns regarding the building’s condition, its poor thermal performance and running costs.

The strong community response had shown how important the Drill Hall was to the local community and Cabinet had agreed to ask for bids from organisations or community groups to run the building. The Horsham Branch of the Royal British Legion put forward the only viable proposal to create a home for Horsham’s various military and service organisations. The proposal also included making the hall available for hire to the broader community, and upgrading and improving the building, including its thermal performance.

The Cabinet Member stated that the proposal would provide vital support to local veterans, military personnel and their families. He confirmed that there had been overwhelming support for the proposal from members of his Policy Development Advisory Group.

The Monitoring Officer assured Members that the terms of the lease would specify what was expected in terms of ensuring continued use of the hall by community groups, and a schedule of works would be carefully considered before the terms of the lease were finalised.

Members were supportive of the proposal, which secured the long-term future of the fabric of the building and its continued use as a valued resource for the local community. The Armed Forces representative acknowledged the hard work that the RBL had put into preparing their proposal and those who had taken it through to completion.