OKEHAMPTON town councillors, shocked at the soaring cost of urgent repair works in the Market Hall, this week decided to look into the possibility of selling the building off. Cllr Charles Letchford told councillors in light of the estimated £400,000 cost in the coming years to bring the hall up to modern standards, more ?radical options? had to be considerated, including selling the 19th century property. A special meeting of the properties committee met on Monday after Okehampton chartered architect Nils Westman advised of the need to undertake maintenance works on the civic buildings as a matter of urgency, including tackling dry rot in the Market Hall. In a letter to the town council Mr Westman wrote: ?Certain maintenance works must be carried out urgently before further degradation and spread of the dry rot fungus occurs.? Mr Westman told the council the estimated costs for refurbishment on the lower market hall?s upper floor offices next to the band room due to dry rot in walls were likely to be more than £60,000. Damp ingress-related work and external redecoration to prevent further problems could cost a further £27,000. He told councillors: ?If you leave it any longer, the problem will get worse and worse and you will have an even bigger bill than today.? The council?s other properties will also need some maintenance work on top of the expensive list of works outlined in a comprehensive Access Action Plan which has just been completed. The estimated cost of implementing all the recommendations to meet disabled access requirements for the Market Hall alone, is £327,000. Cllr Letchford told members: ?When you have an old car that needs lots of money spent on it, it goes beyond being economical to repair. ?Why don?t we sell the Market Hall? It is a constant source of aggravation to us. ?We would not have to spend such sums of money and that money could instead be put towards improving access to the charter hall and town hall. ?The building is past its sell-by date. We should think seriously about a more radical option. ?If we sell it complete with dry rot it becomes the buyer?s problem and we can concentrate on the charter hall and the town hall.? Cllr Letchford said selling the hall could serve to ?get rid of a headache? for the council. Already this year, the town council has clashed with market traders over booking priorities, most recently over use of the hall for a charity market last weekend. Mayor of Okehampton Cllr Tony Leech said: ?There is no way we can go the electorate and say ?We are going to raise the precept again and again to pay for a building that runs at a loss?.? He said it was right the council considered all the options available, given the major expense involved, and that included at least looking at the possibility of selling off the hall. Cllr David Weekes said one implication that might be considered was that Okehampton would cease to be a market town if the market hall was sold off. Councillors agreed to instruct the town clerk to seek a valuation of the Market Hall, before discussing the repairs issue again at the next meeting of the full council.
