Building work to start at Laverton by the end of the month (From This Is Wiltshire)

the council wont be repaying it us council tax payers will be!!! another waste of cash for the few that use it. how about using the cash for saving the swimming pool or something else that we all use not just for the council to have nice offices!!!

cght36 wrote:
the council wont be repaying it us council tax payers will be!!! another waste of cash for the few that use it. how about using the cash for saving the swimming pool or something else that we all use not just for the council to have nice offices!!!

This sort of comment is pure nonsense based on ignorance.

In 2006, one thousand local residents signed letters supporting the proposal to spend large amounts of money on refurbishing the building up to modern standards so that it could be put back to use as a public hall for hire for all sorts of events.

In 2008, two hundred residents made a huge noise about the fact that they had signed a petition to close the Laverton and move the town council to the Old Town Hall in the Market Place despite their total pig ignorance about the cost of buying and converting the building (well over £500,000 and there would still be no main hall and some rooms would have no windows) and whether the council even has the money to buy any such building in the first place.

The council basically gets completely idiotic remarks passed its way all the time and the only sensible way to proceed is to ignore the nonsense and concentrate on sound professional advice and the judgement of councillors who actually know the relevant details about the projects.

There has always been a vocal minority who are simply not interested in the building and who begrudge the idea of others benefitting from money spent on the project.

The Laverton Hall has been the main assembly hall in Westbury for over 100 years, but it's popularity fell quickly over the last 20 years due to a lack of investment.

It has a great deal of heritage merit, being part of the Laverton portfolio of landmark buildings in Westbury (eg. Angel Mill, Westbury Swimming Pool, Propect Square almshouses) and deserves preservation fort this reason alone.

However, the key point of the project is to bring a useful building back into full and popular public use.

Most of the works will be paid for by grants. At most, I expect the council to pay about £200,000 over about 6 years to create a building that would otherwise cost about £2m to build from scratch (including site value). Bear in mind that the town council took over the building for free as trustee of the charity that owns the building.

The initial project described in this article focusses on sorting out two key issues:

1. the council offices on the ground floor. The offices are completely inadequate at present. The works will simply create adequate offices and save the council from paying more money if it had to move to alternative premises.

Ove the last 5 years various town councillors have tried to prove that it would be cheaper and better to move to other premises in the town. When challenged to prove their point, they have looked at premises and done the calculations and failed to show how other premises would save any money at all. In fact, the analysis has always shown that the best value for money comes from investing in the existing building because we got it for free and it is cheaper to improve what we have rather than pay rent on anything else or to convert anything else.

2. Installation of a 2 man lift to allow disabled access to the main hall on the first floor. Solving this issue will remove the main hurdle which has hindered bookings of the hall in recent years.

The liability and responsibility for repaying the loan will be that of the council, though it is correct to suggest that the council in turn would receive most of its money via its council tax precept.

The swimming pool is not yet definitely closing and we await clarification of that matter later this year. At present, the pool is run by Wiltshire Council and the town council is simply not involved. To run the swimming pool would be a far bigger financial commitment and is probably far too large for the town council to ever contemplate as it would completely dominate the operation of the council and dwarf alll other budget items.

What rubbish,think of what the money could do in the community and as for Warminster,800,000 could go on reopening our out of hours and minor injuries which would benefit thousands of locals.

Russell Hawker wrote:

cght36 wrote: the council wont be repaying it us council tax payers will be!!! another waste of cash for the few that use it. how about using the cash for saving the swimming pool or something else that we all use not just for the council to have nice offices!!!

This sort of comment is pure nonsense based on ignorance. In 2006, one thousand local residents signed letters supporting the proposal to spend large amounts of money on refurbishing the building up to modern standards so that it could be put back to use as a public hall for hire for all sorts of events. In 2008, two hundred residents made a huge noise about the fact that they had signed a petition to close the Laverton and move the town council to the Old Town Hall in the Market Place despite their total pig ignorance about the cost of buying and converting the building (well over £500,000 and there would still be no main hall and some rooms would have no windows) and whether the council even has the money to buy any such building in the first place. The council basically gets completely idiotic remarks passed its way all the time and the only sensible way to proceed is to ignore the nonsense and concentrate on sound professional advice and the judgement of councillors who actually know the relevant details about the projects. There has always been a vocal minority who are simply not interested in the building and who begrudge the idea of others benefitting from money spent on the project. The Laverton Hall has been the main assembly hall in Westbury for over 100 years, but it's popularity fell quickly over the last 20 years due to a lack of investment. It has a great deal of heritage merit, being part of the Laverton portfolio of landmark buildings in Westbury (eg. Angel Mill, Westbury Swimming Pool, Propect Square almshouses) and deserves preservation fort this reason alone. However, the key point of the project is to bring a useful building back into full and popular public use. Most of the works will be paid for by grants. At most, I expect the council to pay about £200,000 over about 6 years to create a building that would otherwise cost about £2m to build from scratch (including site value). Bear in mind that the town council took over the building for free as trustee of the charity that owns the building. The initial project described in this article focusses on sorting out two key issues: 1. the council offices on the ground floor. The offices are completely inadequate at present. The works will simply create adequate offices and save the council from paying more money if it had to move to alternative premises. Ove the last 5 years various town councillors have tried to prove that it would be cheaper and better to move to other premises in the town. When challenged to prove their point, they have looked at premises and done the calculations and failed to show how other premises would save any money at all. In fact, the analysis has always shown that the best value for money comes from investing in the existing building because we got it for free and it is cheaper to improve what we have rather than pay rent on anything else or to convert anything else. 2. Installation of a 2 man lift to allow disabled access to the main hall on the first floor. Solving this issue will remove the main hurdle which has hindered bookings of the hall in recent years. The liability and responsibility for repaying the loan will be that of the council, though it is correct to suggest that the council in turn would receive most of its money via its council tax precept. The swimming pool is not yet definitely closing and we await clarification of that matter later this year. At present, the pool is run by Wiltshire Council and the town council is simply not involved. To run the swimming pool would be a far bigger financial commitment and is probably far too large for the town council to ever contemplate as it would completely dominate the operation of the council and dwarf alll other budget items.

wondered how long it would be before you started spouting utter crap, as usual!! and running people down coz they dont agree with you!! im with "onthesofa" money could be spent better elsewhere so the whole community can benefit from it.

Interstingly Bill Braid has changed colours and now activly supports the work on the Laverton. I dont agree with the financing of the project because the taxpayer will end up paying for the repayments and im not so sure grants will come into it, grant suppliers know Councils are in a unique possition of raising the council tax to pay, where other applicants dont have that luxury, bottom line is though, the Laverton Project will go through but the taxpayer will pay in the end. Time will test its outcome.

I havnt said a bad word aginst Bill Braid just stated the fact.

just about nails it Russell

Oh dear i think Russel has been upset by certain posts on here and they have been reported,better keep it clean guys.

I see my original reply to cght36's 2nd post has been removed.

I'll restate the main key points:

* I did not run anyone down. I have simply addressed the issues and behaviour of un-named individuals to eo explain that their remarks are often based on complete nonsense and certainly not any real understanding of the actual issues nor costs involved.

* cght36 is hiding behind a false ID and making wild unfounded claims. My comments are simply based on the facts and real experience from dealing with the project directly and personally for 8 years.

* cght36 needs to understand the difference between criticising false arguments (eg. wild unfounded claims with no real facts at all) and behaviour of people who behave badly compared to making personal and untrue or gratuitously offensive remarks.

My comments above all fall into the category of criticising the nonsense said by others. I have not named anyone. This is perfectly normal debate.

You cannot properly debate issues involving costs and benefits in complete ignorance of the actual costs involved and the alternative cost implications (if projects do not proceed) which is the approach taken by all Laverton Project detractors.

Their approach is no better than that of louts coming together in bar making wildly misleading remarks based on their own misunderstandings and lack of any real knowledge of the subject.