Office to rent in Lewes

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Save the Grange

On 18 Oct 2012 at 1:58pm Isabel Warren wrote:

Hi everyone. I have learned via email to Lewes History Group of council plans for the Grange which involve it's closure and the Registry Office to be resited in Sackville House in the noman's land beyond Tescos!!!
Karen Miles [email protected] Catherine Grace and Sarah Pearson leading a campaign to SAVE THE GRANGE!
Success to them

On 18 Oct 2012 at 2:02pm not from around here wrote:

This is because as usual the people making the decisions have absolutely no idea how important The Grange is to local people. To them this will just save a few pounds. Although I'm Not From Around Here, even I know that this is vital part of Lewes life - make the campaign loud and high-profile so that those making the decisions cannot possibly remain unaware of public feeling!

On 18 Oct 2012 at 2:27pm Southover Queen wrote:

This is also because basically ESCC and LDC couldn't actually give a stuff about what we think in Lewes, as they've demonstrated time and agin.

There's a piece in Viva Lewes today which explains things in a little more detail. It seems that weddings are to be relocated to the Town Hall, ignoring the fact that there's nowhere even to stop a wedding car etc for longer than about a minute and certainly nowhere to park easily. (At the Grange at the weekends you can park for free in the school car park) Also there's nowhere to take pictures outside either, unlike the Grange with its beautiful gardens.

I've heard that the underlying concern is the cost of repairs to the fabric of the building, but that there was a proposal for the larger room to be renovated and redecorated so that larger groups could attend register office weddings which must now have been shelved. Weddings at the Grange generate quite a bit of business for hotels etc, so this will be very unwelcome news. I can't imagine that the Town Hall will be anything like as popular a venue.

As usual it doesn't make much sense to me, and it would be lovely

On 18 Oct 2012 at 3:42pm Rookie wrote:

It doesn't make much sense to me either, although it's obviously all about saving a few quid. I got married there and had the traditional photos taken in the gardens. It wouldn't have been the same in the High Street.
If the council isn't going to pay for the repairs to the building then who is? I would hate to see that building fall into decay.
Fight it

On 18 Oct 2012 at 3:59pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:

The marriage room at the Grange was refurbished not that many years ago. It must be one of the nicest register offices in the county, and now that people can get married in any register office they will surely vote with their vote and go elsewhere.
The rooms for hire at the Grange get a lot of use. There is a playgroup in there several mornings a week and it's a very popular venue for parties etc.
It will be a great loss to the town if it ends up in private hands.

On 18 Oct 2012 at 4:08pm John wrote:

The behavior of badgers differs by family, but all shelter underground, living in burrows called setts, which may be very extensive. Some are solitary, moving from home to home, while others are known to form clans

On 18 Oct 2012 at 6:05pm Dom Ramos wrote:

The Grange has been home to the man who made the Royal Navy, John Evelyn, by commissioning the planting of oaks for shipbuilding, the first recorded harpsichordist and played host to countless newlyweds, party-goers, lectures and events. It is an asset with convenient parking in a town beset by that problem, and the alternatives to it haven't been thought through. Whilst the sell-off of the grounds maintenance contract to a garden centre company has been largely successful there are important differences here. It is a family jewel of the town, and betrays a dangerous precedent this Council are dallying with. The revolutionary pamphleteer John Streater and New Model Army colonel was educated in its grounds, and the Council might expect a Streateresque response if they go ahead.

On 18 Oct 2012 at 6:05pm steve watts wrote:

ESCC want to save money by not renewing their lease with the district council and moving the staff to Sackville House. Nobody seems certain what use the building will be put to after February but it seems there are no plans to sell it.

On 18 Oct 2012 at 7:18pm Ed Can Do wrote:

If Steve Watts says there are no plans to sell it, we can pretty much expect to see "Sold" signs up in the next fortnight.

On 18 Oct 2012 at 9:29pm Deelite wrote:

Are you saying that SW is full of crap Ed? If so, why?

On 19 Oct 2012 at 10:04am Fairmeadow wrote:

(1) The Lewes DC property strategy (approved last Spring) plans to sell off all the District Council's assets not required for admin (including Lewes House & the Fisher Street offices as well as the Grange)
(2) The membership of the Lewes DC Southover Grange subcommittee was changed last May; two Tory councillors were bumped off and replaced by Cllr James Page (the Dear Leader, represents Saltdean) & Cllr Nicholson (former Tory Leader; represents Seaford)
(3) Cllr Page told Council on Wednesday that there were no current plans to sell the Grange
(4) ESCC declined to renew the lease because of the changed terms on which it was offered
Do you still think there is no intent (as against no current plans) to sell the Grange Steve? If you do, maybe you could try booking an even there for, say, next July?

On 19 Oct 2012 at 10:14am Southover Queen wrote:

Thank you Fairmeadow. That's pretty clear then: whatever Cllr Page says it's quite clear that changing the conditions so that ESCC no longer want to use it would be an effective way of making Southover Grange redundant. Once you've achieved that then there can be no logical reason not to flog it off, can there? "Drain on scarce funds at a time of austerity; it's a shame but we have no choice" blah blah.

Private Eye, are you still watching? Talk about rotten boroughs...

On 19 Oct 2012 at 12:17pm someone else wrote:

So we have to deal with one council who are determined to throw money into a highly questionable business venture (All Saints cinema) with little apparent prospect of success and against established competition, and another which wants to scupper the operation of a unique and beautiful facility, the best in the area.

These idiots are so very confusing.

On 19 Oct 2012 at 12:26pm Ed Can Do wrote:

I was merely poking fun at Steve, although based on Fairmeadow's post I might not be far off the mark. When the sell off happens, might be worth checking the bidders register of directors for Cllr Jimmy Page's name...

On 19 Oct 2012 at 8:38pm Deelite wrote:

Hard to imagine that, if Seaford Leader of Lewes District Council James Page is that corrupt he would be so stupid as to have himself or anyone easily associated with him listed as directors of the developers buying buildings sold of by LDC.

However, it is increasingly obvious that something is awry with LDC. Even the planning department seems to have an agenda that leaves democracy behind.. either that or they are unbelievably incompetent.

On 20 Oct 2012 at 7:48am steve watts wrote:

Hey Ed dont shoot the messenger ! Only passing on what an employee of LDC said, personally dont believe it for a minute . This can not be allowed to happen , i am presuming all the gardens will go with the house ?

On 20 Oct 2012 at 10:05am Ed Can Do wrote:

Unlikely as it currently seems, if the proposed constituency boundary changes do go through, would the definition of Lewes District be changed in line with that? It would seem a bit silly to have an MP who has nothing to do with Newhaven and Seaford and a local council that covers those areas.

On 20 Oct 2012 at 10:21am Southover Queen wrote:

I think the gardens are staying in public use: even the most supine of residents probably wouldn't let that happen.

Is there a campaign getting going? This isn't yet a fait accompli, not least because I think Fairmeadow has nailed the process that Our Dear Leader has identified as the route to declaring the Grange redundant. There is time to do something about this - so why not have a go? A little light petitioning and some judicious picketing of LDC offices? Cllr Page can't be allowed to continue as if Lewes District were his personal fiefdom...