Below I have embedded the presentation with a few notes on developments, although we progress daily with new things happening so will of course keep you updated here and on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/bromleyartsandcommunity.
Below the presentation I have included the meeting minutes too which include all the questions put to Peter and I on the night. If you have any additions or have questions of your own please don't hesitate to email me (amanda.c.hone@gmail.com) and we'll answer them the best we can.
As ever if you're interested in joining a working party to help procure the Royal Bell and turn it into a community pub and arts space, or if you're interested in our project moving a pop up art gallery (in the form of a shipping container!) around the borough then please do get in touch.
Thanks so much for all the support people, this is just the beginning but dear me this is going to be exciting...
The meeting minutes are detailed below:
Bromley Arts and Community Initiative
Open Meeting
Bromley Central Library 28th
March 2013
Chair – Peter Martin (PM)
Secretary – Amanda Hone (AH)
Attendees numbered 87
Agenda
1. Introductions and purpose of meeting
2. BACI Vision (Amanda Hone)
3. What’s been done so far and future actions (Peter Martin)
4. Questions
5. Join up!
Minutes
1.
Peter Martin introduced himself and the aims of
the meeting. As retired planner at Bromley Council PM was concerned about the continued
lack of occupancy at the Royal Bell and its state of disrepair. He also wanted
to get his teeth stuck into a project after retiring! The purpose of the
meeting was to update people on developments and to promote sign up to the
cause.
2.
AH introduced herself as a Bromley girl born and
raised always saddened by the lack of a creative, accessible and exciting arts
scene in the town. After the restaurant she used to run (Ed’s Woodfire Grill on
East Street) was sold she decided to try to breathe life back into Bromley, and
especially Bromley North Village, by investigating the feasibility of taking on
the dilapidated Royal Bell Hotel to turn it into a community owned pub and arts
space. After a lot of research and being heartened by the growing number of
pubs being bought and rejuvenated by their communities around Britain she began
this mission.
The presentation outlining the Bromley Arts
and Community Initiatives aims should be found along with these meeting
minutes, but if not please go to http://bromleyartsandcommunity.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/open-meeting-of-28-03-13-presentation.html
3.
PM detailed some of the progress BACI had made,
including winning initial support from the Plunkett Foundation (a charity set
up to help communities buy buildings listed as “community value assets”),
headway made with the council (including their support and initial steps to
contact the lease holders about the state of the building), meetings with the
Colliers International (agents between British Land and Spirit Group) and talks
with potential leasers of the space, including a pub company and a Bromley
Little Theatre.
4.
Questions were opened up to the floor and are
detailed below:
-
Lewisham Town Hall was mentioned as a building
that was left in a terrible state of disrepair for some time and was eventually
knocked down and the site built on. This example differs a little to the Royal
Bell because it was council owned, however PM and AH agreed that this is
exactly what they were trying to avoid with the Royal Bell.
-
Had the market area behind Bromley North Station
been considered as a potential for setting up a community space? PM and AH stressed
that in the early stages of this project the focus would be on the Royal Bell
and although there would be potential for taking on another building/site in Bromley
it wouldn’t be until all avenues had been exhausted with the Royal Bell.
-
The Studio in Beckenham was suggested as a
similar example of what BACI want to bring to Bromley but it was pointed out
that the Studio closed down due to rising costs and significant losses. PM and
AH agreed that the studio had an eclectic mix of arts based activities going on
but that the building and running were Bromley Council’s responsibility. PM and
AH want to be clear that this will be a project independent of the council with
no money being sort to achieve their goals. With a strong business plan and a well-managed
arts programme with a complementary commercial arm there is no reason why the Initiative
should not make money. AH indicated various arts centres and pubs with
performance and arts spaces co-existing perfectly and popularity, even in tough
economic climes, is not dwindling.
-
It was asked whether BACI’s focus would be only
on the Royal Bell and if it was impossible to take on, whether to change the
constitution to encompass a broader remit to include other options. AH
explained that BACI had been advised by the Plunkett Foundation to be as
focussed and specific as possible in our constitution early on, this will show
potential funders and stakeholders that we mean business with the Royal Bell
and give us more credibility with the land owners and lease holders too. AH also
explained that it would be easy to reconstitute at a later stage if getting the
Royal Bell proved impossible to take on.
-
Various suggestions of local arts centres and
theatres were offered, including one in Leith and at Eltham College. AH also
told the group about a recent visit to The Forum in Norwich and PM outlined
successful pub/theatres in London, e.g. The Hen and Chickens.
-
The pictures of the Royal Bell caused the most consternation
among the audience and it was asked whether there was potential for dry rot in
the building. PM said that locl firm Pellings had advised us that it was a strong
possibility given that the water ingress had been going on for so long with no
efforts had been made to rectify the problem.
-
The issue was raised concerning the rates being
paid while the building was empty and PM explained that because the Royal Bell
is Grade II listed the leaseholders were paying no rates to the council at all,
losing them millions of pounds in potential rates revenue.
-
The question of whether the 1st floor
and the stables could be accessible separately other than access through the
ground floor was raised. AH said that access to the stables is completely separate
but that the 1st floor was not. If the only option was to take on
the 1st floor and stables while a sub-leaser went it on the ground
floor a separate access would need to be arranged.
-
Funding and revenue streams were discussed and a
suggestion was made to include a strong educational element to gain grants and
funding. AH agreed that this would be a strong component of any activities
going on at the Royal Bell and outlined the plans for the stables to be a place
where this could happen with workshop and dedicated education space built in.
-
The question was asked what would happen if the
ground floor commercial venture was to go bust, either if BACI owned the building
or if it was being sub-leased from Spirit. AH stressed that there would be
strong legal covenants that covered these eventualities and that BACI would
never take on the running of the pub, it would always go to a pub company with
legal liabilities.
-
Figures of how much was being asked for the
building and what the leasers were currently paying was asked. PM decided it
was better not to go into specific details as the figures at the moment were so
inflated and not reflective of reality that it was probably better not to
divulge them.
-
It was asked whether BACI could raise any funds
through Bromley Councils Bromley North Development Scheme and projected Action
Plan for the town if BACI were helping to improve and regenerate the area. PM
and AH explained that the council were unlikely to contribute any funds and
keeping the project separate from them was very important too. However there
might be talks about potential of match funding if needed in the future for
grants such as a Heritage Lottery Grant, but it is unlikely that they would
make applying for funds from central government a priority.
-
It was asked how much BACI would be looking at
to raise if they bought the building from community shares. AH made it clear
that this wouldn’t be known until we knew how much we could buy the building
for and how much money we would be receiving in grants. Successful Community
Land Trusts have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy community value assets
all over Britain though and fundraising events for these local causes have
proved big money earners too.
-
AH stressed the importance of buying the
building over leasing it if possible, with the legacy of the project being far
greater and more substantial than a lease. This project is all about giving the
people of Bromley something they can be proud of and something they have had a
hand in achieving, it might be expensive and it might take a long time but
having a trust that holds the building for Bromley community to use and enjoy
forever would be priceless.
-
It was asked whether the legal structure of BACI
had been agreed and whether people signing these support forms would have
personal liability if this Initiative was to fail. PM and AH pointed out that the
constitution clearly stated that we are a community looking to investigate the
feasibility of procuring the Royal Bell as a community pub and arts space,
although we will set up a bank account to become formally recognised the only
money received into that bank account will be from funders supporting a feasibility
study, no money from the public is being asked for until we have got far beyond
where we are now.
5.
Everyone was encouraged to join up and support
the cause by filling out the forms on their seats and handing them in. If you
know people who want to sign up too please email Amanda for an electronic form.
