PUBLIC HALL FOR PETERSFIELD
Meeting's Decision
VIEWS OF TOWN AND DISTRICT
Council's Position
The residents of Petersfield and district want a public hall of their own. They have been talking about having one for years now and yesterday se’nnight representatives of almost every phase of public life in the town gathered together and pledged themselves to definite action.
The meeting which was convened by the Petersfield Ratepayers’ Association and presided over by Dr. F. A. Minty passed the following resolution:—
That this meeting approves of the building of a public hall in Petersfield and appoints a committee to discover ways and means and report to a public meeting as early as possible.
This was proposed by the Secretary of the Association, Captain P. Winter, and seconded by Dr. H. Roberts who has played an important part in reviving interest in the town.
The committee was elected as follows: Mr. Keith Gammon (Chairman of the Urban District Council), Dr. H. Roberts, Miss K. Merritt (Hon. Conductor of the Petersfield Choral Society and the Petersfield Orchestra), Miss N..Tomkins, Miss H. Gammon (Secretary of the Petersfield Musical Festival), Mr. Alan Lubbock. C.C., and Mr. Norman Burton (President of the Petersfield Chamber of Commerce). The committee was given power to co-opt members amongst whom will be the Hon. Treasurer of the Building Fund Mr. A. J. C. Mackarness and representatives of important organizations in the district.
Great Need for Public Hall
In opening the meeting Dr. F. A. Minty said there was a great need for a public hall in Peterstield. There was only one opinion about that. In the past they had the Corn Exchange which had had its day and ceased to be, and now they were making use of St. Peter's Hall and the Drill Hall, by the courtesy of the Church and the military respectively. The one was small and the other was in many cases not adequate. They could, however, make use of them, and they were managing to do so, and they would have to manage for a little while yet.
‟I am quite against anything in the nature of putting up a temporary building, which would be a waste of time and money (proceeded the speaker). We are not going to be like the people who get to the bank of the stream and then sit down and wait until all the waters had flown past. Now is the time to strike; a good deal of help has been promised, and the whole thing now needs putting into shape. It is not a time when people can contribute large sums of money, but my experience of people is that they do like giving if they can only afford a little, if the thing is really needed, and they will give gladly. When the thing is well started the money will come even if only in small qauntities. Why not build part of the hall in such a manner that it can be added to as is required, and funds permit? There are many ways in which, after the thing has really got started, the rest of the money can be raised such as entertainments, concerts, whist drives, dances, lectures and I myself have got a good deal of money in my time out of bazaars. We want your opinions.”
Dr. Roberts Explains His Position
Dr. Harry Roberts, who is a resident of Hawkley, near Liss, explained his position in regard to the efforts now being made to supply this long-felt need in the town. He said he was concerned in it by the merest accident. ‟My intention right from the start” said Dr. Roberts, ‟was to support a proposal which had previously been made in the Press to the effect that money might possibly be raised by public subscription; and I had intended to follow up my support with a cheque such as I could afford, and then leave it at that. But I certainly never wanted to interfere in the affairs of Petersfield. I am not actually a resident in Petersfield, and most of my work is right away. It was thus by the merest accident that I became involved really more seriously.
‟To my surprise, within a few hours of my supporting the proposal made in the Press, I received a number of very definite offers of money amounting to £750, from persons who did not know me personally and could only have known my name.” Dr. Roberts added that not only had he received offers of £750, but he was in a position to announce that certain residents in Petersfield and district had promised amounts totalling several times that figure.
Must be Candid
‟I feel,” proceeded Dr. Roberts, ‟that we must be very candid to-night if we are going to get anything done. Many of these subscribers made certain conditions. and one condition particularly, was stipulated by quite three-quarters of the subscribers who have offered sums roughly in the neighbourhood of £1,500. The condition was that they were not prepared to contribute these large sums If the hall was to come under the control of a public body, such as a district council. Well, that is the main issue that we have to determine. No organization has yet been formed, not even a committee—I have not actually asked a single person for a penny, and considering that this response has come absolutely spontaneously, without any organization, to a completely unkown person, such as myself I think that this money that we need, whether it is £4,000 or £6,000, can be got from residents in Petersfield and district, directly we can present them with definite facts, and with a definite organization in which they have confidence.
A Nice Looking Hall
‟I am not very interested about conditions, so long as it is a nice looking hall, and built for the purpose for which it is wanted, that is all that matters to me. But it appears that we can't have a hail without the money. We can’t raise the necessary money on the rates, or by public loan, the Government won’t tolerate that, and therefore we are bound be dependent for the main part of this money on voluntary subscription. A sum running into thousands, in a district of this size can only be collected by voluntary subscriptions, if a large part of it is given by fairly well-to-do people. If they are going to contribute two-thirds of the amount on certain conditions, on which they are absolutely convinced, then I think the only question we have to decide, is whether we will accept the offer and welcome it, and do all we can to help it on those terms, or do without a hall altogether. I do not believe we can get a hall on any other terms and they have been stipulated by the majority of the subscribers, with whom I have communicated by letter.
Mr. Edgar Morris asked whether it was quite clear that the Urban District Council would not be allowed to loan the money. ‟If we can dismiss that possibility and we have got these offers of several thousands of pounds we must go ahead and do the very best we can with it,” he added. ‟Is there any suggestion that there should be a limited company in connexion with the building fund?”
The Chairman said they would like to see Petersfield’s worthy Council more conveniently housed. He asked whether there was any possibility of the municipal and public buildings being combined either one above the other or combined in some way so that the one could help the other and that the cost might be lessened.” Dr. Minty asked Mr. Gammon, as Chairman of the Urban District Council, whether he had any comment to make on such a proposal.
Views of the Council
Speaking on behalf of the Urban District Council of Petersfield, Mr. Keith Gammon said the only thing he was authorized to say on behalf of the Council was that the Council had for various purposes secured a site in Heath Road, Petersfield, and there would be sufficient room on that site for a hall to be built whatever it might be. With regard to the raising of the money for that purpose, he had no suggestions to make at the moment, but it would be possible to build a hall there.
The Site
‟I presume that one of your difficulties is the question of a site,” continued Mr. Gammon. ‟If you are going to raise the whole of the money and the Council are not allowed to take any part in it, well, you probably won’t want to use that site. If, on the other hand, you want to make any arrangements to save yourselves the expense of buying a site, I am authorized by the Council to say, ‛We are all in favour of a hall in Petersfield, and any proposal put forward for the use of part of this site for the hall will receive favourable consideration.’”
Continuing, Mr. Gammon said he would not go so far as to say that whatever they put up would be agreed to by the Council, but every member of the Council was in favour of having a public hall for Petersfield. ‟We have got that site now,” he proceeded, ‟and it may be worth your while to consider some method of using part of that site, and thereby reduce the amount of money required to be subscribed. If you have got to raise £6,000 to build your hall and have to get this additional £700 or £800 to buy the site it is not going to be quite so easy. The Council at a meeting the other night authorized me to come here and put that to you—that whatever body is formed from this meeting if you have got any proposition to put up there is the site.”
Question of a Loan
As regards the question of a loan it was permissible for the Urban Council to borrow money for building public offices but it was not allowable for them to borrow money to build a hall of the size which was apparently contemplated. As to whether the two schemes could be worked together in order to reduce the general cost by any means, he could not say at the moment. It might be possible or it might not. That would be in the hands of the Ministry of Health. Anyway, they had got the site.
Miss N. Tomkins, in a lengthy address, said she was there representing no body at all except possibly the ‟Man in the Street,” but there were one or two things which she would like to say. She emphasized that she was speaking as a rate-payer and not as a member of the Petersfield Urban District Council. She said various names had been used in question with this hall, and she was not quite dear as to whether it was actually going to be a town hall or not. Nobody was very definite as to what it actually was that was going to be considered. It was important that they should get to know what it was that they were aiming at.
A Civic Centre
Miss Tomkins went on to say that to her mind they were going to build a Civic or Municipal Centre which should combine municipal offices and committee rooms, a town library, and public hall in one. In addition Miss Tomkina said she was also interested in the provision of a Green Room, cloak room, foyer and box office and car parks adjoining or in close proximity. As Petersfield was expanding rapidly they had to think for the future. In the last five years 142 houses had been built in the Urban District. Rapid development was taking place in the neighbourhood that would be served by the Public Hall as she saw it at Petersfield. She maintained that Petersfield and the surrounding district could be considered as one unit in these days of rapid transport. Speaking as a ratepayer, and not as a member of the Petersfield Urban District Council, she felt most emphatically that if such a building was to be built it could only be done by a local government authority. That was her considered opinion after some months of thought on the matter.
‟I don't see possibly,” continued Miss Tomkins, ‟how any other group of people can set to work to build a town hall which is to be a proper town hall if it is not to be connected with the municipal authorities.
A Smaller Scheme
She went on to say that she considered that a hall which was to accommodate say, 900 people for the local musical festival would be costly to maintain. Many of the town’s activities had small attendances numbering from 150 to 200 persons, and for this reason she thought it would he better if a smaller scheme were considered.
Miss Tomkins suggested that any committee formed to deal with the matter should work in close co-operation with the Urban and Rural Councils, as the amount of public money involved was very subsanti al.
Mr. Edgar Morris said he had received a letter from the County Librarian on the question of combining the hall with a Town Library, and said he believed the Carnegie Trustees would be willing to consider offers for 10 per cent. of the cost of building the library.
The Upkeep
Referring to the question of upkeep Mr. Roberts said it was the suggestion of several of the larger subscribers that they would guarantee for a term of years a certain sum per annum over and above their subscription—a matter of £10 per annum apiece for a certain period. That was how they were prepared to deal with any possible deficit. It would have to be pretty badly managed if the loss amounted to more than £2OO a year. Referring to Miss Tomkins’ remarks, he said hers was a very much more ambitions scheme than he had in mind. He had lived long enough to know that it was very easy to imagine all kinds of castles, and when it came to bricks and mortar it was not a bit of good talking about it until they had had a look at their bank balance. It was necessary to have a hall big enough for the musical festival, which was an important event in Peterstield, and it was also necessary to divide the hall into smaller sections for smaller events. without losing the acoustic properties. 'This had been done with success elsewhere.
No Overloading
Dr. Roberts emphasized that what the subscribers did not want to do was to overload the scheme. ‟Many a good ship has been overloaded with excellent goods—things that we should all like to get to the other shore—and the result has been that the whole lot goes down together.”
He proceeded, ‟We may lose this hall if we are a little too finnicky politically; because we are a member of some organization or because we would rather have it under slightly different management. We can destroy this scheme by trying to get two suits out of a piece of cloth that would make one very excellent suit, but would not make two. By putting off action in this matter enthusiasm will he damped down. I think if we go on quickly we shall get the money fairly easily.
The Site Question
With regard to the question of a site Dr. Roberts said he thought he was correct in saying that the idea was not that the Council should not be allowed to look at this hall. He was there to try and explain rather than having the authority to expound, and as far as he could make out the feeling was that the Council was elected for entirely different purposes than the purpose for which this hall was meant to serve. The Council were elected for quite other purposes. They changed very much in personnel and character, and they did not know what the council of three years hence would be like, or even six years. There was a feeling of uncertainty quite apart from all the other things. Anyway, whether they were right or whether they were wrong. that was the subscribers’ idea. As far as the site proposed was concerned it would be, of course, an enormous help. He could not help feeling that there would be a strong Inclination, even on the part of those who stipulated that the hall should not be handed over to the control of the Urban Council, that they should have ordinary officials of the local public body on the governing body embodied in the articles of the association or whatever was formed.
Mrs. Morris said there were about 40 dances taking place in Petersfield during the season.
Dr. Roberta said he hoped there would be absolute harmony in the matter so that they would all be able to recognize each other’s difficulties, and be able to find such a working arrangement that they would be able to co-operate together to meet this need in the town.
Did Not Think It Possible
Mr. E. F. Errington said he did not want to throw cold water on what Dr. Roberts had said, but he was very undecided about the idea himself. He said he really could not see how it was possible to build in Petersfield a large hall to hold 900 people and pay for the annual expenditure or get the necessary capital. He did not think it was possible at all. The division of a large hall into smaller ones was not a successful method, because it spoilt the acoustic properties.
Mr. N. Palmer. one of the Urban Council representative, informed the meeting that the Council had formed a committee and had been trying 12 months or more to solve this problem of how to obtain a hall for the town, and efforts had been made by the Council in every direction. He thought the proposed hall should have a facade or frontage of municipal buildings.
Get the Money
Mr. E. J. Privett: The important thing to do is to get the money. There is no doubt about that, before we consider the type of hall or anything else, and if we can leave that in the hands of a certain number of people then we shall get our hall.
Miss Tomkins: That is rather putting the cart before the horse. It is no good people being asked to give money unless we have a clear idea a what it is going to be given for. I suppose the last fine building to be put up in Petersfield is the church. and that was built 800 years ago. It is about time we moved along a bit and put up something we shall be really proud of in the future.
A Joint Committee
Mr. A. J. C. Markarness said he thought as ratepayers they ought to thank Dr. Roberts for having raised the question again, and got it going. He understood from Mr. Gammon that the Council were not making it a condition that they should have control of the hall, but that they were willing to consider other suggestions. They were sympathetic in every way possible, and he therefore suggested that a joint committee should be formed to consider the whole thing.
Mr. Gammon said the Urban Council laid down no condition. ‟If you want to use that site,” he added, ‟there it is, and whatever suggestion you like to put up will receive sympathetic consideration. We will try and work with you. We certainly do not lay down any condition for sole control.”
The resolution forming a joint committee was then passed, the proposers emphasizing that it would no doubt be found necessary to add to the committee’s personnel with prominent residents in the district who are interested in the scheme. Mr. Mackarness was unanimously elected Hon. Treasurer.