The money being spent and forecast to be spent on Midsomer Norton Town Hall has come up for scrutiny at the latest council meeting, with councillors arguing that the figures from the latest business plan about the project are not accurate, not transparent, in one specific case, woefully underestimated.

The hall closed in September 2022 for complete renovations, with phase one of those reportedly now almost complete but for the next and final stage, which should see the Town Hall re-open in 2024, the council has had to take out a public works loan,

Cllr Shaun Hughes argued at the meeting that the costs in the business plan were not transparent and did not add up - warning that a projected bill for £6,000 to pay for the lights and heating for the hall could be triple that.

Cllr Deborah Thatcher added " There seem to be fundamental problems with the numbers in the plan? Am I correct there is a payment of £44,000 a year to repay a loan ? And is there any costings here for fixtures and fittings?" adding that, the hall will be run by the Trust, and while there is a staff cost within the budget plan for £28,000 for 2026, no allocation for 2025?

The Midsomer Norton Mayor Cllr Gordon Mackay told the meeting on December 4 that " This time last year the Town Hall was in danger of falling down" and that he personal did not want to be in charge when the biggest asset and heritage gem of Midsomer Norton was allowed to collapse. So that meant councillors could not pull the plug on the project.

Other councillors said that in spite of all the spending so far on the project, there appeared nothing to show for the spending and the hall is still closed, still not finished and the costs are just going up.

Clarifying one element of the spending, the clerk told the meeting that the £44,000 payment on the debt needed to complete building work, was only for 2024 and this figure would fall to around £30,000 for the following year with repayments all fixed.

Cllr Shaun Hughes told the meeting : " This business plan assumes that the hall will make a profit in the first year of three to four thousand pounds... that's never going to happen. Let's get an accurate figure and then work out how we can fund and finance this. You have here a number for utilities for £6,000 - that won't work, property insurance for £5,000... we need to know where the figures come from."

The question of running costs came up repeatedly at the meeting, with Cllr Martin Thatcher asking; " How can we even pay to keep the lights on in the Town Hall ? " He then drew the meeting's attention to an item on page 31 of the business plan for the Town Hall which assumed that the hall would pay non-domestic rates, which would be levied at a relief of 80 per cent. " That's a big assumption. You really have to justify spending on this, millions have gone into that building and we need evidence of the spending."

Councillors heard that there is not an option to halt work on a half finished Town Hall in its current state and that the aim was to " Make a building which can look after itself" with volunteers helping out and a big increase in the number of events, including showing three films every other week.

The council resolved to invite the Trust to their January meeting to get more details and specifics on what was planned, at what cost and when and where the numbers came from.