SAY 'NO' to Jerwood on the Stade
- unanswered questions
No to Jerwood on the Stade
Unanswered Questions Consultation
Documentation Misinformation

On 29th April 2009 the following email was sent to Simon Hubbard - the officer responsible for regeneration - at Hastings Borough Council

" It has been publicly stated that if we didn't jump at the chance of having Jerwood here in Hastings other towns would seize the opportunity - could you let me know which other towns / authorities you are talking about?"

on 7th May 2009 the following reply was recieved

"Jerwood have been very coy about this, and indeed Alan Grieve made the point at the Business Luncheon Club yesterday that they had been offered significant financial inducements to go somewhere else :- but he has never told us where."


The following list of questions was emailed to Hastings' Chief Executive on 22nd April 2009 and copied to every Elected Member of Hastings Borough Council. No elected members have replied.
1. Please supply a copy of the site valuation for the area to be leased to the Jerwood Foundation, showing date of valuation.   I do not have this information.
2. Please indicate the length of lease and the rent payable.   The final terms of an agreement between the Foreshore Trust, the Jerwood Foundation, and Hastings Borough Council are not in the public domain. However, the broad terms were agreed at Cabinet on 9th June 2008
SOS note - The "Heads of Terms" are here
3. Please supply details showing when and where the availability of the site was advertised and competitive tenders sought and indicate how many expressions of interest were received.   The site was not advertised.
4. Please supply justification for the loss of revenue of £130,000.pa from coach / lorry / car parking charges and indicate how this shortfall will be made good.   The regeneration statement for both the Jerwood Gallery and the creation of the open space, café, and community education facilities are included in the respective planning applications, which are available to view in the Hastings Information Centre, Priory Meadow, or via the Council's website, www.hastings.gov.uk
5. Please supply justification for granting the Jerwood Foundation exemption from all local taxation liabilities and indicate whether this exemption applies to all the other ‘ Art Galleries ', private, charitable or otherwise in Hastings ?   The question of granting exemption from business rates for the Jerwood Gallery was addressed at the Cabinet meeting of 9th June 2008
6. Please supply details of the Jerwood Foundation's proposed admission prices and details of the proposal for a discount for local residents and the proposed catchment area qualifying for this discount.   •    I do not have this information
7. Please supply a copy of the advice from HM Customs and Revenue that states that Jerwood must charge for admission.    I do not have this information
8. Please supply a copy of the Jerwood Foundation's business plan as originally presented by them and indicate that its projections have been verified. If there has been a subsequent plan or plan please supply a copy of the most recent.   The regeneration statement for the Jerwood Gallery is included in the planning application, which is available to view in the Hastings Information Centre, Priory Meadow, or via the Council's website, www.hastings.gov.uk
9. Please supply evidence to support the statement that 100 jobs will be created (are these full-time equivalents or part time?) and £10million per annum will be generated.   The job creation aspect of both schemes are included in the regeneration statements which form part of the respective planning applications, which are available to view in the Hastings Information Centre, Priory Meadow, or via the
Council's website, www.hastings.gov.uk.
10. Please supply supporting evidence for the estimate of an increase of approximately £250K p/a in local taxation revenue from surrounding businesses as a result of the proposed Jerwood gallery location and indicate the source of this revenue.   As before, the regeneration statements for both schemes are included in the respective planning applications, which are available to view in the Hastings Information Centre, Priory Meadow, or via the Council's website, www.hastings.gov.uk
11. Please supply the study that supports the projected visitor numbers to the Jerwood Gallery.   Again, whilst I do not have the background study, this is addressed as part of the regeneration statement for the Jerwood Gallery application
12.Please supply details of when the art collection can be viewed (opening hours, how many days a week and how many weeks of the year ) throughout the year and sanctions available to Hastings Borough Council if these hours are not adhered to.   I do not have this information
13. Please supply the study that assesses the loss of revenue to local businesses caused by the reduction in the number of coaches stopping in the Old Town .   I do not expect there to be a reduction in the number of coaches dropping off or picking up in the old town
14. In view of the Prime Minister's stated objection to tax havens please supply justification for HBC condoning the passing of assets belonging to the people of Hastings to an entity based in a tax haven, an entity which is not, in any case a charity.   Ownership of the land remains with the Foreshore Trust/Hastings Borough Council
15. Please supply evidence that the effects of the current recession have been taken into account.   All of the regeneration statements, etc. have been compiled within the last few weeks, during the period of recession. HBC is confident in Jerwood's due diligence regarding the Gallery and the viability of the project
16. Please explain why HBC has allowed misinformation about the level of support for the Jerwood Foundation to persist – when the majority of the fishermen are not in favour of the Jerwood proposals neither are the majority of HOTRA members.   Support from members of the public has been at a remarkably consistent level, from the Masterplan consultation through to the consultation on the detailed planning application, with between 85% and 90% of those responding saying they favoured the plans. Both the Fishermen's Protection Society and Hastings Old Town Residents' Association have written letters of support
Hastings Boro' Council's auditors did reply, but missed the point, the justification for the gallery is regeneration, if the gallery doesn't open all year round then it might as well not be there. On the basis that they have been given the land for nothing and won't have to pay any local taxes then it would not be unreasonable to require that the gallery be open all year round as a condition of the lease. If, on the other hand, Jerwood simply want a bunker to store their investment art then it doesn't matter to Jerwood if they are open or not - they've got a cheap store subsidised by the council tax payers of Hastings & St.Leonards. The leaflet that he auditor refers to is available here
     
     

Letter from SIMON SCOTT - originally to the Hastings Observer

REGARDING the Jerwood Art Gallery, and following comments from Ion Castro in last week's letters column, it is time residents were appraised of the details so far known.
1. Jerwood representatives looked around Hastings, and said they wanted to build their art gallery on The Stade. Nowhere else was of interest, and if The Stade was not made available they would go elsewhere.
2. Jerwood want the land at The Stade for free. If not, they will walk away.
3. Jerwood want an agreement never to pay business rates. If not agreed they will walk away.
4. The recent public exhibition showed three options for the layout, but Jerwood favour option C and if this option is not agreed they will walk away.
5. Jerwood is only building an art gallery. New toilets, information centre, community centre and police box will have to be built and paid for by the council/council tax payers. No budget has yet been agreed for this work.
6. No design has been put forward nor is there any clear impression of the size and the impact of the new building on the net-shops, fishing beach and nearby residents.
7. In 2005, consultants were paid £40,000 to tell the council that the only site available for the re-location of the coaches - Bulverhythe Depot - wasn't viable. So where will the coaches go now? Rumours abound that the bowling greens at Sea Road have been ear-marked as suitable 'hard-standing' for coaches.
8. If the coach drivers don't want to trawl all the way down the seafront from the Old Town to the bowling greens (and back again in the afternoon) perhaps they will stop coming. Some councillors and officers will be pleased if the passengers - the elderly, the disabled, the low-earners, the family and community groups, the non-car owners - don't come any more. It is said they don't spend enough so they won't be missed! The council is keen to keep in with Jerwood and will agree to the above conditions at cabinet on June 9 rather than follow the democratic process of real, public consultation. So what's new in Hastings?
SIMON SCOTT
Old London Road

   

Letter from David Hancock

Stade error    
We must learn from the very negative experience that Hastings has had with Sea Space. Vast sums of public money have been flushed through their hands without any measurable, beneficial effect on the Local employment situation. Hastings has actually become more deprived as a result of the blunders that have been made.
This waste of "Tax-Pounds" must not be repeated. We are now asked to believe that Jerwood is the answer to the town's deprivation. This view defies all logic, evidence and experience.
The Jerwood proposal is very obviously a case of "the Emperor's new clothes." It seems incredible that so few have seen through the propaganda and the "spin" to observe the genuine facts. The facts are that Jerwood is demanding several million pounds of tax-payers' cash. They want a piece of prime real estate that is owned by the public (not the council) at no cost to Jerwood. The building is likely to be "bland", cheap and functional.
There will be a maximum of three new jobs created. Most local people will not visit Jerwood and many will not be able to afford such a visit. The knock-on effect of extra visitors will be very small and this is not the Tate (or even a close approximation). Most people have never heard of this company and have no idea who they are.
My own view is that the town is already too poor to find the cash to subsidise this scheme at the Stade.
I do not support cheap and bland building in prime locations. I would strongly support a plan to bring Jerwood (using their own money) into one of the more suitable sites in Hastings (such as the Bathing Pool, the old Sun Lounge (perhaps after demolishing the ugly "Cow-Shed"), in Broomgrove or even the Marshalls site at Silverhill. The issue seems rather too clear for the council to grasp. The Stade is the wrong place for Jerwood. The town should not put millions of pounds of our money into this private development.
David Hancock
Glenview Close

 


   

 
     
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