Agenda item

To receive a report from the Corporate Director, Place.

Resolved:

That Cabinet approves:

1. The preferred tenant as the third-party organisation to operate City Hall as an entertainment venue on behalf of Wiltshire Council subject to financial due diligence and agreement of the Heads of Terms

2. That the allocated Capital Receipt Enhancement (CRE), budget for Melksham Blue Pool is repurposed to complete the necessary external works to City Hall prior to lease commencement, and that a virement of £0.045m of the 2024/25 budget and £0.255m of the 2025/26 budget from the CRE capital scheme line is made to the Facilities Management Investment Estate capital scheme line.

3. That future decisions relating to the Heads of Terms and lease for City Hall are delegated to the Corporate Director - Place, in consultation with the Director - Assets, and the Leader of the Council.

Reason for Decision:

To bring City Hall back into use as an arts and entertainment venue.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of the Council presented the report which provided a recommendation to agree a lease with the preferred tenant to remobilise Salisbury City Hall as an arts, entertainment, and cultural venue.

The Leader explained that a public consultation took place in 2019 and 2020, which highlighted that one of the top reasons people go to Salisbury is for entertainment and the public ‘strongly agree/agreed’ for the development of ‘space for culture, leisure and entertainment’. He highlighted the importance of City Hall being operated as a live entertainment venue and noted that an external report was commissioned to calculate the cost of bringing the external fabric of the building to a suitable standard, estimated to be £300,000, with the final cost being subject to formal procurement. He also referred to comments on social media from a Salisbury councillor taking credit for City Hall reopening, even though there had not been any input into the process from that councillor.

Cllr Sven Hocking, portfolio holder for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, and Officers commented on the procurement process and noted that the offer from the preferred tenant provided the best financial return to the Council, enabled the building to reopen in a reasonable timescale and secured the site for a long period of time. Cllr Hocking recommended to proceed with the preferred tenant subject to financial due diligence and agreement of the Heads of Terms.

Cllr Jerry Kunkler, Chair of the Environment Select Committee reported that he and the Vice-Chair of the Select Committee received a briefing on 10 January 2025 and indicated that they were briefed on the background to this decision starting with the closure of the City Hall in 2020. They were reassured about the robust nature of the process of identifying a new tenant and the reasoning behind the preferred option. They also discussed the due diligence process and happy to support the proposals.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group welcomed the proposals to bring City Hall back into use as a live entertainment facility.

Cllr Tony Jackson in noting the Council’s determination to remobilise Salisbury City Hall as an arts, entertainment, and cultural venue, commented on the lack of support to undertake similar action for a facility in Warminster.