ALTON Town Council was clearly not for turning on Tuesday night despite well-articulated arguments against the plan to enter into an operating contract with Alton Community Association to provide caretaking, booking and marketing services for the Assembly Rooms.

At an extraordinary full council meeting called by town mayor Pam Jones to consider the outcome of the March 10 electors’ meeting, and to debate the issue in public, the concern from the floor was predominantly over the lack of transparency and public consultation in reaching a decision, made behind closed doors, and one that it was felt could have been better informed with input from regular users of the building.

With feelings running high, and at times disintegrating into a slanging match with councillors accusing each other of bringing the council into disrepute, it became a political battle with the Tory majority set on cost cutting of what users feared would become a “soulless facility”, while others stressed the need to attach greater value to the community rather than the money-making ability of what was regarded as an important “artistic hub in the centre of town”.

The question was raised over why the building could not be registered as an asset of community value – an idea which will now be looked at more closely by councillors as it could result in savings on business rates and open the door to community grants, as well as improving public confidence as the status would protect its future use.

But that aside, the decision-makers were not going to budge, pointing out that while the final documentation has yet to be signed, the deal was done and would go ahead and that they had settled on Alton Community Association as a core client of the council and with a proven track record of running a community facility as being the right partner, and that they would not be going out to tender to investigate working with other community groups to run the facility.

Due to the restrictive nature of the Grade II Listed building and its rooms, it was recognised that the Assembly Rooms is not an easy facility to market, with speakers from the floor advocating the need for a constant presence and an increase in the staging of imaginative events. But these, councillors argued, do not make money, making it clear that any future events would be run by third parties, with Alton Community Association opening up the rooms for organisations to set up and stage.

It was, countered the opposition, a retrograde step, raising fears that it could lead to the eventual closure of the building and, worse still, conversion to flats.

“Absolutely not so,” said deputy mayor Matthew Bayliss. This was all about finding a new model of delivery of the same core service but at a much reduced cost to Alton Town Council, he said.

The decision not to consult had been a judgment call which the council would stand by – if service levels were to remain the same then “it could be argued that there were just as many people who would not support a consultation as those who would”, according to Mr Bayliss.

While praised for their interest and ideas, for those in the audience hoping to force a last-minute reprieve for the Assembly Rooms staff and a return to the status quo, it wasn’t going to happen. The arguments were listened too but when it came to the councillors expressing their reasons for voting for or against there was no movement. Only councillor Bisi Eni-Olotu had broken ranks by voting against her Tory colleagues due to the “lack of transparency in making such an important decision” – and she stood by that decision.

Now, according to the mayor, the only way to reverse the decision would be for seven councillors to ask for it to be reconsidered but that, she said, could not be achieved.