PLANS for urgent repair work at Haslemere Town Hall were being addressed by councillors last week. They are looking at the logistics of work to be carried out. The focus is on budgetary requirements and methods of storage when building work commences. Haslemere Town Council is applying to the Public Works Loan Board for a grant to cover the structural work to be carried out. The provisional figure for the loan amount is approximately £20,000. This is to ensure that renovation work will not be at any additional expense to taxpayers. However, Mike O'Neil explained to councillors at a finance and general purposes committee meeting last Thursday that a fixed quotation is needed before a grant application can be submitted. The committee chairman, Michael Dover, also pointed out that a contingency sum will also need to be considered to cover unforeseen expenditures. A structural survey was carried out on the town hall in October last year. It revealed that the first-floor council chamber was structurally unsafe and therefore was no longer to be used. Since then, public council meetings have taken place at other buildings, including Haslemere Hall and the Marjorie Gray Hall. Meetings are currently being held at Haslemere Museum. The grant will also include money to be used for replacement play equipment on Lion Green, which will be approximately £10,000. "I am very happy that we seem to be making progress," said town mayor Jean Arrick. "I feel confident that we will get the money we need." The council is also in discussions about methods of storage while repair work is being carried out at the town hall. One of the proposed options is a secure steel container, measuring 21 feet by eight feet to be used, particularly for storing equipment that cannot be easily relocated. However, this is yet to be decided and other storage options are being considered. The council is also deciding whether new office equipment will be purchased with the loan money to be used once renovation work on the council chamber has been completed.
