‘Minority Report’ Reveals the Truth About Clair Hall

Opposition District Councillors have written a report which sets out the facts about Clair Hall that the Council wanted to conceal

Four Lib Dem, and two Independent Mid Sussex District Councillors have jointly submitted a 'minority report' to the Council about the Conservative's September decision to close Clair Hall. The minority report examines each of the grounds for the original call-in. A number of these concerns were excluded from discussion when the decision was re-examined by a special scrutiny committee on 13^th October.

At the Scrutiny Committee, the Conservatives voted as a block not to refer the decision to close Clair Hall back to Cabinet or Full Council for reconsideration. The Constitution of MSDC provides for the submission of a 'minority report' in instances when a minority of councillors on a committee disagree with the majority's decision.

The minority report reveals:

• That claims in the Cabinet Report of 14^th September that usage and footfall at the hall were in decline were incorrect
• That claims in the Cabinet Report of 14^th September that Clair Hall is very energy inefficient are misleading
• That the alternative options to permanent closure were not seriously entertained by MSDC
• That the decision was taken without the level and type of public consultation that it justified

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Alison Bennett said, "Those who watched the scrutiny committee on Youtube were rightly appalled by how the meeting was run, and by the concerted effort that was put into closing down many of the questions that we raised in the call-in notice. It is right that we put on the record the whole picture, so that everyone can see how misjudged and ill-informed the basis for closing Clair Hall was."

Cllr Richard Bates from Hayward Heath added, "Thank you to all my fellow residents who have written to me to about Clair Hall. I want to encourage people to spend a few minutes reading the minority report so that they can see for themselves the gap between the full facts and what MSDC presented to the public."