A massive petition against the ‘disposal’ of the historic Altrincham Town Hall - a wedding venue for thousands of couples down the years - looks doomed to fail. The petition of nearly 2,000 names was presented to Trafford council on Wednesday evening (January 25). The council wants to sell a 25-year lease on the building to a childcare business in order to cut the £60,000 annual running costs.
Representatives of the Altrincham and Bowdon Civic Society were at the latest full council meeting. Treasurer Trevor Stone delivered an impassioned plea for the 120-year-old building to be spared for community use. The group, which has applied to run the building as a community interest company (CIC), has been ‘unfairly treated’, said Mr Stone.
Describing the process as ‘shambolic', he told councillors: “We want to work with you, not against you, to find a mutually agreeable solution. We know you have budgeting issues and we do understand the attraction to you of a commercial company’s bid.
"We obviously cannot compete with that financially, but we can remove from the liability of running and maintaining the building.” He said the society would do this via a CIC and ‘with our passion for the building and its heritage, you know we would do this properly’.
Mr Stone said the building is ‘perfectly located’ in the heart of the Old Market Place Conservation Area, across the road from the Market Hall. It was the local seat of government until 1974 when Altrincham became part of Trafford.
However, Trafford’s executive member for economy and regeneration, Coun Liz Patel, responded by saying that although the town hall was listed for ‘disposal’ in February last year, it was never considered for outright sale. “Just to clarify, it would be via a lease, so Altrincham Town Hall is not being flogged off, redeveloped for flats, or last to council ownership,” she said.
Coun Patel said the council had given community groups a ‘transparent chance’ to bring forward their proposals. “But unlike George Carnall [a leisure centre in Urmston] and Stretford Public Hall [both taken over by community groups], two of the three bids we received were reliant on on going council funding.”
Coun Patel said the results of bids to run the town hall which had been received would be presented to Trafford’s executive committee and a formal decision on the successful bid would be made. "I don’t consider we should delay progression of this matter beyond February 2023,” she said.
Conservative Coun Michael Whetton said he understood the council’s desire to save on costs, but went on: “There are more ways than the blunt commercial route that being ploughed at present [to resolve the Altrincham Town Hall dilemma]. A better route is available, which seeks to reduce the current costs to nil, perhaps considering an acceptable tapered financial basis.”
Liberal Democrat leader Coun Julian Newgrosh described the petition as ‘extraordinay’. "Altrincham is a town with history and one of its key assets is the town hall,” he said. “We are supporting the sentiments and motivation behind the petition.”
Green Coun Michael Welton told his colleagues: “There is deep public support for keeping the town hall available for community use. The Green group, including the three Altrincham ward councillors share that ambition. The building is a both a heritage asset and a unique venue.
“It should be a jewel in the crown of a town that has frequently been voted one of the best places to live in the UK.”
Council leader Tom Ross described the arguments in favour of putting the town hall into the hands of a CIC as ‘very passionate’. “I know Altrincham Town Hall,” he said. “I can see the beauty of the building inside and outside, including the wonderful windows and the stair features. They are not going.
“The building isn’t going anywhere. We are looking to lease it for 25 years so that we can safeguard it, hopefully, for another 120 years.”
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