A CAMPAIGN to restore Haslemere Town Hall to its former glory, and to provide wheelchair access to the council chamber, has been launched by a former town mayor.

Town councillor and former mayor, Michael Barnes is leading the application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for up to £50,000 to pay for the project for the Grade II Listed Building.

This week, Mr Barnes told The Herald that he had already heard from the Heritage Lottery Fund that it would consider an application for the desperately needed work.

A final lottery application is expected to be submitted by the end of May.

"The council chamber ceiling and the town hall roof both need repairing and there is an urgent need to make the building more accessible for wheelchair users," Mr Barnes said.

With a total cost for the project estimated to be in the region of £50,000, the town council would be expected to make a financial contribution to the project - even if the lottery bid goes to plan.

Funds in the region of £8,000 have already been set aside by councillors to pay for work to repair the Victorian council chamber ceiling and to install disabled toilets, but that was before the need for further work had been suggested by town council contractors and Mr Barnes.

After a recent survey of the ceiling it was revealed that it may be the only one of its kind in the country. Made of tin and installed in the Victorian era, the ceiling has rusted so badly that in some places it is possible to see through it to the skies.

The survey also showed that the town hall roof has been in need of repair for some time. Buckets are currently catching leaks from the roof.

Town clerk Mike O'Neil confirmed that "significantly more money than that set aside by councillors" would be required to pay for all the work proposed for the town hall.

At a meeting of the council's finance and general purposes committee last week, it was agreed that although Mr Barnes is standing down after next week's elections, he could continue his hard work on the project.

An enthusiastic Mr Barnes said: "After looking at the surveyor's reports for the town hall it seems that former town councils have only ever made temporary repairs to the building.

"This time I think we need to make sure the job is done properly so that its long-term future is secured."

Speaking at the committee meeting, several town councillors thanked Mr Barnes for his work and agreed that it was important for disabled access to be provided for the town hall.

The current Mayor of Haslemere, Stephen Mulliner, stressed that no work should be undertaken at the town hall until the Heritage Lottery Fund had made a final decision about the application.

Town and borough councillor Jacquie Keen said that she also supported the application.

Mrs Keen said: "I know of councillors who are wheelchair-bound and I think access for disabled people is something we will need to think about very seriously.

"There is going to come a time when somebody who is wheelchair-bound is voted on to the council and will need access to the chamber."

Among the measures proposed to improve access to the council chamber are a chair lift to be installed on the staircase and a through-floor lift to be installed from the entrance lobby up to the first-floor chamber.

Mr Barnes said that careful consideration would be required to the benefits of installing either of these types of lift.

"Sometimes the cheapest option is not the best.

"We have to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of each of the ideas before we make a decision," Mr Barnes added.

And Mr Barnes has even been thinking about the long- term future for the building.

"There's a possibility that in some years to come the people might want the town council to relocate to a new civic centre, this would mean that the town hall could be completely restored to the condition it was in when it had an archway running through it."

A decision is expected to be made on the application by the Heritage Lottery Fund by the autumn.