Falkirk Council: Closure of Falkirk Town Hall agreed

The minority SNP administration agreed to support an amendment from the Conservative group urging Falkirk Council to delay the closure.

The council’s director of Place Services, Malcolm Bennie, wanted councillors to put an end to years of wrangling over a replacement for Falkirk’s town hall and the adjoining municipal buildings, which are currently being demolished.

The report made clear that any new building would not contain any office space and would instead be a new town hall, containing a theatre, rather than the long talked about HQ and arts centre.

He said that FTH would need to close for a year to safely disentangle it from the municipal buildings at a cost of £2.4 million, before repairs that would cost another £4 million.

But his plan to close FTH after the pantomime finishes in December met with outrage from local members of the arts community, who said they had been “blindsided” by the news.

At a meeting of Falkirk Council today (Wednesday), Amy Sutherland from Falkirk Operatic Society told councillors that her company stood to lose thousands of pounds as their sets, costumes and performing licence was already paid for.

She spoke eloquently about the impact that the loss of FTH would have on members of her group and others and said that a closure of five to ten years would mean groups would almost certainly not survive.

She warned councillors that many would go to other local authorities to spend their money in their facilities, fatally damaging arts and culture in Falkirk.

Mr Bennie said he had sympathy with local groups but he added: “If Covid has taught us anything its that we can find solutions to problems and do so at pace.

He pledged to look at alternatives such as moving lighting from FTH into an venue such as Grangemouth Town Hall and working with the schools to come up with an arrangement that would mean local societies could use their facilities more easily.

He warned that the condition of FTH is so poor that there was a real danger that shows would be disrupted the building’s failure and urged councillors to support a “managed and planned closure”.

The council leader, Cecil Meiklejohn, supported Mr Bennie and urged members to support the proposals, saying that the decision making in the past five years had been “like wading through treacle”.

She said that town centre businesses were losing faith and desperately needing assurances that the project was moving forward.

She said: “Delay is not an option – we’ve had five years of delay for delay’s sake and it gives a lack of credibility to the council. This is a difficult decision – it’s not easy to make – but there is compelling evidence and the best thing is a managed closure.”

But Labour councillors had been taken aback by the speed of the proposals and they along with the Independents on council were not prepared to support the plan without any concrete plans for what would go in its place.

Labour group leader Anne Hannah criticised the lack of consultation with opposition groups as well as local arts groups and said it was vital to see the proposal for the replacement before making any decision.

However, the Conservative group agreed that it was time for a decision to be made, although they urged more support for the groups who would be affected.

Council officer Lesley O’Hare said that council officers are ready to start working with local groups to find out what they need and how they can be supported.