BURNHAM-on-Sea and Highbridge Town Council has moved a step closer to moving into a new home after councillors agreed to ‘explore options’ for relocating the town council offices.
At a full council meeting on Monday (September 2) councillors unanimously agreed to further explore proposals to sell off their current premises in Jaycroft Road in Burnham and move into The Princess Theatre and Arts Centre in Princess Street.
Town councillors have not ruled out other locations for their offices such as the former SS&L building in Princess Street but said they feel the former adult learning centre building does not have enough room for meeting rooms, offices and a council chamber.
Councillor Peter Clayton, who put forward the proposal, told councillors that ruling out the former SS&L building would mean the council would avoid paying £5,000 in costs to pay for surveys of the site.
He said: “I don’t think moving to the SS&L building is the way forward for us.
“I know some councillors have been concerned that we would lose parking at The Princess as they had heard we would extend it from the back.
“I just want to reassure everyone that we wont be extending out the back and if we are going to extend we would extend upwards from the flat roof.
“All of the pieces are in place to move into The Princess Theatre and I think we should move on it as soon as possible.”
But Cllr Helen Groves said while she likes The Princess Theatre she thinks more options need to be considered.
She said: “I really do like The Princess but we need to be looking at all of the options that are available to us.
“We can’t just assume that The Princess is the solution and go for it.”
Councillor Phil Harvey agreed with Cllr Clayton’s proposal but suggested that it be amended to say ‘without ruling out other possibilities’ so all potential premises for the council to move into are considered.
He said: “Going on with this without knowing the costings and other possibilities is not a safe idea.
“We need to do a lot of research into this before we make any decisions.”
Councillors unanimously agreed further explore the proposal to sell the council offices and will look at options over the next few months.
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