Clair Hall is part of our Community
I have lived in Haywards Heath since the early 1970s and once Clair Hall was built, it has been a facility which I and my family have used over the ensuing years.
Clair Hall, the only such facility in Haywards Heath (a town quoted by estate agents as “one of the most important in West Sussex”) serving a large local population. It is accessible by bus and train, and has parking for cars. It has fully disabled access making it very user-friendly for those with and without cars. It seems to me that to close it down would go against Mid-Sussex’s own Sustainability Action Plan since closure would result in local people travelling many more miles to access the facilities it provides thus increasing carbon emissions via increased car usage. In addition, the demographics show that nearly 25% of the population in Haywards Heath is 60+. These are the people you will condemn to the GP’s surgery with mental health issues if the activities that bring them cognitive stimulation and social pleasure are denied them by the closure of a hall that provides those activities.
My own usage, and my family’s usage, of the facilities Clair Hall offers started in the 1970s enjoying Christmas outings to watch pantomimes (performed by Weald Theatre Group) and subsequently watching my own children take part in this enormously beneficial activity for youth. Later members of our family became involved with productions and with Haywards Heath Operatic Society. Both Boys and Girls Brigades performed there, and one of the local Schools of Dancing. Visiting various Collectors Fairs and the like. One of the most important Clair Hall activities town-wise is its usage as a Cinema. There is no other film venue in what is a very large town.
On the Charity side at Clair Hall, I was involved with the delivery of Meals on Wheels prepared in the Clair Hall Kitchens.
The Hall is extremely well used by many groups: I am currently involved with the U3A, Mid Sussex National Trust Society, Haywards Heath Ceramics Group amongst other organisations. I think continuity of venue is very important for the community of Haywards Heath and do you really wish to make all these excellent organisations homeless?