A MELKSHAM town councillor has said he doesn’t want the Assembly Hall rebuilt as part of the campus for fear that the town could lose control of the venue.
Geoff Mitcham, councillor for Melksham North, recently wrote to Melksham News to oppose the idea of moving the Assembly Hall into the new campus when it is built.
The move is something being considered by the town council as plans for the new facilities are still up in the air.
But Cllr Mitcham has said in his letter, and in council meetings this year, that he would not support the move.
He wrote, “I’m sorry to say I don’t trust Wiltshire Council and, if we go ahead with this, further down the line we’ll find the hall being used as a glorified sports hall and hired out at exorbitant prices as well as losing control of it altogether.”
Councillors have said the ageing Assembly Hall is falling into disrepair and will need to be refurbished or rebuilt in the near future.
The Assembly Hall is Melksham’s biggest venue, with space for 400 people, and is regularly used for big fairs, concerts, stand-up comedy shows, club and council meetings and fundraisers.
There have been suggestions that a town poll could be held for local people to vote on its future, but the council was asked to decide whether to include it in the campus by January.
Other councillors have agreed that the hall should be controlled by the town, but there are concerns about how that could be achieved if it was inside a building run by Wiltshire Council.
Cllr Mitcham hosts Melksham Rock ‘n’ Roll Club gigs at the hall, and has done for over 15 years.
He continued, “It was suggested by cllr Jon Hubbard we offer the hall as part of the campus, thus saving Wiltshire Council from having to provide bar and kitchen facilities. I was immediately against this as there was no indication of whether the hall would stay in our hands or be run by Wiltshire Council.
“We lost the hall once before to West Wilts District Council, then managed to get it back, so I was unhappy about us losing it yet again.”
