Issue - meetings

Rafal Hejne, Interim Head of Organisational Development introduced the report, and he provided an update.  He outlined the proposal to establish a Members’ Steering Group for Clair Hall and confirmed the Council would follow the best practice previously used elsewhere for similar projects.

The Leader  welcomed the report which set out the timescale and acted upon the mandate from the public consultation. He confirmed the public’s clear preference for improvements and the involvement of Haywards Heath Town Council.

Following a question from the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, the Interim Head of Organisational Development confirmed the timescales of the project were  ambitious, noting it is a high priority project and once specialist experts were on board the timeline may change.  He hopes to bring an interim report before the Summer and a final report in September to ensure progress as quickly as possible.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery noted the importance of the site to the residents of Haywards Heath and the wider area.

The Cabinet Member for Customer Services asked when specialists would be commissioned, which sector would they be from and what new information they would  need to gather.

The Interim Head of Organisational Development confirmed the intention was to have a number of specialists on board by the end of March to support this work.  Some were already involved e.g. work on surveys. The key specialist advisor would be required to have good knowledge and experience working in the art and entertainment sector.  They will help us understand how the market has changed since the pandemic and suggest further information we will need to gather to inform this work.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Growth noted the potential benefit to the town.

The Leader confirmed the great opportunity for the local area looked forward to the project progressing.  As there were no further questions the Leader took the Members to the recommendations which were agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)         Establish Clair Hall Members’ Steering Group to oversee and steer work to develop investment options for the Clair Hall site, and

(ii)         Noted the indicative timeline and progress of the work to date.