COUNCILLORS are encouraging local residents to get behind a campaign to save Cleckheaton Town Hall after cutbacks mean the historic building is due to be mothballed by the Council.
The Save Our Town Hall campaign involves creating a “ring of love” around the 1800s building on Saturday, October 21, at 11am.
Councillor Kath Pinnock, one of the three Liberal Democrat representatives for Cleckheaton, has been sharing the information on Facebook, adding that they are already expecting around 100 people to turn out at the weekend.
They say: “Kirklees Council is planning to mothball the heart of our community. Cleckheaton’s much-loved town hall has been a centre for many local activities and local councillors and many residents think it deserves to be saved."
She added: “Cleckheaton Town Hall is the best used of all the town halls in Kirklees for community events – it’s the centre of the community.
“It’s used by a number of groups – the University of The Third Age would normally have classes there every day of the week. It’s an important venue for Cleckheaton Folk Festival too and the offices on the ground floor were used by Housing Services.”
“So, it’s a much loved and well-used building and people in Cleckheaton are distraught at the thought that the Council is not prepared to repair this important focus for community activities in our town.”
She added that it was understood the closure would save the Council £170,000 a year in running costs, but as it was well-used the income nearly covered the cost of running it.
“But they are saying they don’t want to invest capital money in repairing it,” she added.
In September the T&A reported how the complete closure, which is set to take place in January 2024, was part of measures by Kirklees Council to save the £47 million needed to balance its books.
This involves a saving of around £455,000 by reviewing its property estate – including the district’s town halls and other buildings across Dewsbury.
In July hundreds of people signed a petition to save the town hall amid rumours it could permanently close.
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