Hot TOPICS 
Town hall buyer emerge from the woodwork?
(August 26, 2011)NEWS in The Warminster Journal that two rival buyers for the
Town Hall have come out of the woodwork just as the bid from Warminster
Preservation Trust was gathering momentum (and more money) raises a
number of questions and issues.
Firstly are the mystery bidders fact or fantasy and if they are real what are their intentions?
A/ We could assume they are not real or serious. In which case they serve a useful purpose for the agents in giving the trust a nudge and possibly making trustees increase their offer.
B/ If they are serious are the fantasists? Taking on that building is a major gamble especially if they do not have planning permission.
C/ Perhaps they are real and have sought pre-planning application advice from professional planning officers who have informed them that there could be a viable scheme.
My view is that planning officers would have given the view that an application is unlikely to be recommended for approval. However if councillors have been leaning on officers this could be different. Perhaps the prospective purchasers have been 'given the nod' in some quarter that planning committee members might overrule the professional planning officers' view.
''It would certainly suit some people for the issue of the town hall to disappear from public consciousness,'' said Steve Dancey, who has been raising this issue since the creation of VFW in 2008.
''Some members of the Preservation Trust take the view that it doesn't matter what goes on inside the building provided the exterior is okay and the pigeons disappear.
''While those are important aspects, it is my view that the Town Hall has a vital role to play in breathing the oxygen of activity back into our dying town centre.
''If someone does buy it with a view to converting it into flats I CAN GUARANTEE that they will be vilified for years to come on this website as 'the people who robbed Warminster of its main civic building' - in the same way that Tony Nicklen's pledge to take account of the democratic decision in the parish poll has been kept in the public eye.''
Firstly are the mystery bidders fact or fantasy and if they are real what are their intentions?
A/ We could assume they are not real or serious. In which case they serve a useful purpose for the agents in giving the trust a nudge and possibly making trustees increase their offer.
B/ If they are serious are the fantasists? Taking on that building is a major gamble especially if they do not have planning permission.
C/ Perhaps they are real and have sought pre-planning application advice from professional planning officers who have informed them that there could be a viable scheme.
My view is that planning officers would have given the view that an application is unlikely to be recommended for approval. However if councillors have been leaning on officers this could be different. Perhaps the prospective purchasers have been 'given the nod' in some quarter that planning committee members might overrule the professional planning officers' view.
''It would certainly suit some people for the issue of the town hall to disappear from public consciousness,'' said Steve Dancey, who has been raising this issue since the creation of VFW in 2008.
''Some members of the Preservation Trust take the view that it doesn't matter what goes on inside the building provided the exterior is okay and the pigeons disappear.
''While those are important aspects, it is my view that the Town Hall has a vital role to play in breathing the oxygen of activity back into our dying town centre.
''If someone does buy it with a view to converting it into flats I CAN GUARANTEE that they will be vilified for years to come on this website as 'the people who robbed Warminster of its main civic building' - in the same way that Tony Nicklen's pledge to take account of the democratic decision in the parish poll has been kept in the public eye.''
MOST OTHER WILTSHIRE
TOWNS HAVE THEIR TOWN COUNCIL OPERATING FROM THEIR TOWN HALL. I'M NOT
PREPARED TO ACCEPT SECOND BEST FOR WARMINSTER. EVEN SALISBURY'S NEW
CITY COUNCIL HAS BEEN GIVEN THE GUILDHALL BY WILTSHIRE COUNCIL