The best deal “by far” for St Mary in the Castle

Hastings Councillors vied with each other for superlatives to comment on the future vision for St Mary in the Castle (SMIC) as presented to the Cabinet meeting on Monday 3 December, which would “establish SMIC as a cultural destination for the South East”. Our report of these developments is followed by personal comments from HOT volunteer Chris Cormack.

In support of the motion to empower the Council to finalise discussions on granting a lease of this iconic building to a trust to be set up by Buckswood School, Council Leader Jeremy Birch welcomed the fact that Buckswood was “standing behind” the local artistic community to bring SMIC to a “new level”.  This brought new marketing opportunities to sell Hastings as a cultural destination such as a possible “Hastings Cultural Card” which would cross-sell SMIC, the Jerwood and the De La Warr Pavillion in bargain packages.

Managing Director Appointed

The core of Buckswood’s vision for SMIC hinged on the recruitment of a “Managing Director with flair and enthusiasm and above all a passion for Hastings”. Hastings born, the new Managing Director would draw on her experience in the West End, The National Theatre, Film and Television, Chichester Festival and Independent productions. It also involved the appointment of  twelve Trustees, each with a portfolio to drive, all local business people with a keen interest in seeing St Mary’s thrive. The specific roles for trustees was welcomed as a means for achieving more.

Cllr Westley welcomed the emphasis on education and young people that a school like Buckswood could bring and the prospect of co-operation between the private and state sectors. Institutes specialising in performing arts, including Helenswood School and William Parker had already expressed support of this co-operation and Rye Community College was also mentioned as potentially involved.  Cllr Hodges also praised Giles Sutton of Buckswood as someone who “cared about”  Hastings and welcomed the regenerative effect brought about by improvements in local schools and the cultural offering.  SMIC would not only offer productions and workshops for pupils to attend, but also work experience placements and opportunities to get involved upstage, backstage, front of house and in the back office.

Charitable Trust

The establishment of a Charitable Trust will enable funding bids to be made and will also mean that relief from non domestic rates can be claimed. Buckswood School would donate to the Trust to ensure SMIC could recommence activities, and it has recruited the Managing Director. The Trust would be run as a Not-for-Profit organisation, and income generated would firstly be set against the costs of the Trust,  with any surpluses set aside for repairs, renovations and improvements  needed for the benefit of the Cultural offering.

Comment by Chris Cormack  

On the face of it, the Council does not benefit any more than it did under Barbara Roger’s previous management of the facility. The lease would be free of rates with a nominal £1 rent p.a.  and no clear commitment on the part of Buckswood to contribute to repairs.  However it is a  potentially win/win situation if Buckswood succeeds in generating sufficient income for the trust to cover the potentially open ended commitments for upkeep of the building.

This potential liability clearly weighed heavily on the Council such that it would do almost anything to find a way for another entity to shoulder the burden. Now the charitable trust shoulders the burden and, although the Council may still need to offer support in the future, the trust has more options; it could involve the community in fundraising activities, apply for grants and lottery money previously unavailable;  it is also thought that Buckswood itself has resources to help out and it could reasonably be expected that they may opt to do this in the appropriate circumstances.

Hastings would like to see SMIC thrive as a centre for quality cultural activities and Buckswood’s mission statement, “In Hastings, For Hastings, By Hastings”,  leads me to believe that Buckswood intends to open SMIC for the usual events we have come to enjoy and, we hope, many more.  Hastings would not like to see SMIC used as just another branch of a private school’s activities for its students. We hope that these public aspirations will be safeguarded in the lease and trust documentation and that Cllr Judy Rogers, appointed by the Council as a trustee to monitor “maintenance and compliance” will monitor this effectively.

In particular,  the documentation should support the “arm’s length” nature of the relationship between the trust and Buckswood School, and Cllr Rogers should be enabled to scrutinise the transactions between the two entities.  For example, Buckswood should be charged a reasonable rate for its own use of the facilities and the school, which provides the staff to operate SMIC,  should invoice reasonable amounts for this service provision. With these issues properly monitored, the whole of Hastings can welcome wholeheartedly the “not for profit” set-up, praised by Cllr Kramer,  and the civic aspirations and generosity of spirit from Buckswood.

Lastly, in view of the dislocation caused by a tardy tendering process, it is welcome that Jeremy Birch agreed to consult with the leader of the Conservatives, Cllr Cooke, on the final terms of the lease/trust.  Being a member of Hastings Philharmonic Choir (HPC) I will ensure that Cllr Cooke is reminded of the duty placed on him by Jeremy to buy a ticket for the  carol concert on 15th December at SMIC!  We look forward to seeing both Jeremy and Robert at the concert.

See our previous report here.

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