Yesterday, The Echo reports that the Vice Chair of Rochford District Council, described the Mill Hall Arts & Crafts centre as ‘dire’.
To write-off, this community asset with such contempt astonishes me. If the Council had invested in this building then it would not be ‘dire’ (I don’t think it is) – I would argue that we’ve never had refurbishment costs presented to us as part of this so-called ‘regeneration and asset strategy’. Why is a new building needed so badly and why haven’t the plans been shown to the public?
What exactly are they hiding?
I haven’t spoken to anyone who thinks that getting rid of the Mill Hall & Civic Suite is a good idea. Rayleigh is a lively, bustling town, with lots of clubs & groups that need somewhere to meet. Rayleigh U3A has over 400 members. Whoever dreamt up this idea of selling off Council assets to build houses/flats must live in cloud cuckoo land! If Rayleigh is to survive the economic crisis we must have plenty of parking for a start. People from Rochford & Wickford come to Rayleigh for banking. Hopefully they they also do a bit of shopping. Who will be able to afford the proposed properties? What sort of Community facilities will replace the Mill Hall? Why can’t Rayleigh retain its purpose built Council Chamber? Why travel to Rochford? Think of our carbon footprint.
Please, please, think again before it’s too late!