Agenda item - Written questions from members of the public.

A list of public questions received by the due date of 12noon on the 17^th March 2016 will be circulated separately as part of an addendum at the meeting.

96.1.        The Mayor reported that 3 written questions had been received from members of the public and invited Ms. Paynter to come forward and address the council.

96.2.        Ms. Paynter asked the following question;

“Hove Museum is located in a converted 1877 dwelling house. It’s now proposed to sell Hove’s graceful, gravitas-heavy and listed early 20^th century Carnegie building and to transfer a proportion of the existing library service to a new build annex space behind Brooker Hall's warren of cubby-hole rooms.  What are the last five years', and projected, Brooker Hall repair and maintenance costs compared to the claimed cost of retaining the Carnegie Library for, say, another 20 years, regardless of whom or what will have responsibility for the ageing Brooker Hall Museum service, be it a Trust or whatever?”

96.3.        Councillor Morgan replied;

“The cost of maintenance for Hove Library for the next five years will be £738,650.00 this compares to £72,265 for Saltdean Library, £88,371 for Rottingdean Library, £3,555 for Hangleton Library and £4,591 for Coldean Library. The maintenance work for the Brooker hall Hove Museum building for the next five years is estimated at £52,700.”

96.4.        Ms. Paynter asked the following supplementary question;

“I wonder how a building which is nearly 40 years older than the Carnegie Library can be expected to last longer than that great big stone civic building. I wonder what kind of projected lifespan you have for the Brooker Museum.”

96.5.        Councillor Morgan replied;

“The issue around capital costs isn’t really central to the issue around whether we maintain the library in its current home or not. There are staffing costs as well. Staffing costs for Hove library are £257,357 a year this compares to between £23,000 and £25,000 for Saltdean, Rottingdean, Westdean, Hollingbury, Woodingdean, Moulsecoomb and Coldean.”

96.6.        The Mayor thanked Ms. Paynter for her questions and invited Mr. Hawtree to come forward and address the council.

96.7.        Mr. Hawtree asked the following question;

“Would Councillor Morgan please tell us why it is only with this Library Plan that it has apparently become necessary to replace all of the roof at Hove’s Carnegie Library and, what’s more, with slate entirely at an extraordinary cost?”

96.8.        Councillor Morgan replied;

“The roof needs replacement and it hasn’t just been identified in the recent past. A study was done in February 2014 and at the time the professional building surveyor’s opinion was that the existing concrete tiles were in poor enough condition to warrant replacement within a three year period from the survey date. The building surveyor would have assessed the possibility of ongoing patch repairs but considered that this would not be the right solution for the grade 2 listed building. Slate was proposed as the option that would be more in keeping with the grade 2 listed building within designated conservation area. Any roofing replacement would need to be agreed with planning.”

96.9.        Mr. Hawtree asked the following supplementary question;

“Could you please tell us whether you have had any contact with Historic England which has taken over from English Heritage about this purpose built listed library and if so the upshot of this especially as the roof is not visible from the sheet unlike many a house?”

96.10.     Councillor Morgan replied;

“That contact is something which I can’t comment upon. I’d have to check with officers and get back to you.”

96.11.     The Mayor thanked Mr. Hawtree for his questions and invited Mr. Burton to come forward and address the council.

96.12.     Mr. Burton asked the following question;

“The local community at Westdene is looking forward to working closely with the Council and with other bidders to run the barn at Westdene Green and it has in place a formidably qualified and experienced team to do so. Our question is can the Council acknowledge the high level of local support for turning the Westdene Barn into a community-run hub by granting us a lease on the premises so that it can be used for community events and activities to engage a wide range of local people?”

96.13.     Councillor Daniel replied;

“We can of course acknowledge the amazing amount of work you’ve done as residents in such a short period of time to get together such a big group and so many pledges of support. I note your desire to deliver activities and events for people of Westdene in that space. Following an open market tendering exercise the council is working with yourself and the successful bidder from that process. I am hoping that you will be able to work collaboratively and in cooperation to be able to do both things and I know that wasn’t the answer that you were hoping for from that exercise but I know that the team have gone the extra mile time and time again on this process because they do recognise the enormous effort that the community has put in and I’d like to commend them for that.

So my understanding of the current position is that our property estates team is working with you to agree terms with both yourselves and the other party involved in that process to enable the unit to be brought back in to deliver a wider offer than either of you could provide alone with community benefits balanced against the income this Council badly needs from our property in accordance with our asset management principles. We hope that this will enable community use and a sustainable solution.”

96.14.     Mr. Burton asked the following supplementary question;

“A secondary point is that given that under the covenant that governs that land and the building, the council is obliged by law to use Westdene Green and the barn for the benefit of the local community and that the covenant terms preclude any use for commercial purposes. Should the council move responsibility for this building off its property asset department and into the communities department so that our bid can be considered using more reasonable criteria?”

96.15.     Councillor Daniel replied;

“I think that you have put some of those technical and legal points to officers and I understand that’s underway so it would be inappropriate for me to comment on those specifically. What I would say is that my understanding is that our officers have fully used the policy and assessed this as they should have done and that’s my understanding and what I’ve seen. What I would say is that I’ve supported many, many community groups because I used to work in an umbrella organisation, well actually I’ve worked in three umbrella organisations, for the voluntary sector and sometimes we get really hung up on having a building that’s ours and it’s not going to be used 24/7 but the thing is that can become a millstone around a community group’s neck and I would urge you to work collaboratively with  the property services and the other tenants to see if there is a way you can use the money that you’ve raised and all the expertise that you’ve got as a group to put it to best possible use rather than sinking it in to property but put it in to equipment, events, training, other uses. I’d encourage you to use community works which is an umbrella organisation for groups like your own in the city and they can probably put you in touch with other organisations very similar to yours who have been down this road. Some own a building or lease a building and some just co-locate so that you can get their take on what’s the best option for you going forward.”

96.16.     The Mayor thanked Mr. Burton for his questions and noted that this concluded the item.