Latest News and Announcements

The Almonry Development Project – Next Steps

As many residents will already be aware, the beautiful historic Almonry building, which serves as an incredible asset to the town, is in desperate need of repair.  Following public consultation which closed on 19th June, Council agreed that the building needs to be brought up to current health & safety standards, made accessible to all residents and visitors and upgraded to comply with the Equalities Act 2010 regarding employees with physical disabilities.  Council can now confirm that a statement of action has now been agreed.

Following a meeting of the Almonry Development Working Group with the Quantity Surveyor to interrogate the detail, three recommendations were presented and subsequently agreed at the latest Full Council meeting, held on Tuesday 20th October:

 

1. that Council accepts the tender of £573,193.53 from Vulcan Ellis to undertake those works specified in the tender document in respect of:
   • internal and external repairs and renovations to the fabric of the building.  This will include:  roof; fascia tiles and masonry; windows; ceilings; woodwork such as panelling, doors and staircase;
   • improvements to services. Including electrical rewire and provision of electric heating supplied by renewable power, in accordance with the Council’s commitment to the Climate Emergency;
   • the provision of disabled access via a reduced and resurfaced slope to a platform lift at the rear of the existing porch.  This will allow access by all at the same location;
   • the provision of accessible toilet facilities within the building.  There is currently a multi-step to the only ground floor facility.  This will be reduced;
   • the upgrading of toilet and kitchen facilities.  The existing facilities are not to an appropriate standard for use by hirers, tenants or staff;
   • the provision of a Tourist Information Point (TIP) within a reception area for Town and Rother District Council Officers.  The Council has received many requests, and has researched other sites, for a visitors to obtain information.  This has been an ongoing objective but is made more pertinent in these current times to encourage a return to Battle businesses.  Council staff and volunteers will be trained to undertake this service;
2. that Council applies to the Public Works Loan Board for a loan facility of £600,000 to cover the cost of these works on the understanding that applications will also be made to the Covid-19 Emergency Heritage at Risk Response Fund (max £25,000) towards repairs, and to the Rother District Council Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy(CIL) Fund towards the development of wheelchair access and toilet facilities  First call to be on these funds if applications are successful.  Only funds not raised by grants or Ear Marked Reserves will be drawn down from the loan.  Interest payments are only applied to drawn down funds, not the whole amount;
3. that Council applies for all necessary additional planning and other permissions, the cost of these and other professional fees associated with overseeing the works, approximately £3,500, to be covered by the existing Almonry Repairs Ear Marked Reserve fund.  This will be offset by a generous offer by Stephen Gray to make the necessary applications for the accessible toilet facility, platform lift and the re-grading and finishing of the ramp pro-bono.

Tender information is available to view here

Information relating to the project, including previous meeting documents, can be found at battletowncouncil.gov.uk.  Alternatively please contact

enquiries@battletowncouncil.gov.uk or call 01424 772210.

Battle Town Council Newsletter is Here

The latest newsletter from Battle Town Council is now available here to download. Alternatively, keep your eyes peeled for hard copies around the town. These can be found at: Jempsons; Battle Library; The Almonry and Netherfield Café, Shop & Post Office. 

Please note, hard copies are intended as a single use item only. Please do not share with other individuals or households. Please help the environment by recycling the newsletter when you have finished with it.

Exercise of Public Rights

Due to an administrative error, the period for the exercise of public rights has been changed to commence on Wednesday 2nd September 2020 and end on Tuesday 13th October 2020. Please see the latest notice for more details. 
Any person interested, has the right to inspect the accounting records for the year 2019-2020 upon making a request to Carol Harris, Town Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer, for an appointment to visit the office.  For more information please see the Governance and Accounting Statements for 2019-2020.

Explore Battle

As we are all encouraged to stay local, the challenge of keeping everyone entertained can require a little thinking outside of the box. If you would like to explore all there is to see and learn about the beautifully historic town of Battle then why not try one of Battle Town Councils beautifully designed fun trails. Whether you are a visitor or proud local resident, there is always something new to explore and the Battle Through Time spy trial will set you off on your very own top-secret mission. If entertaining the kids is proving a challenge, why not try the Battle Activity Book, filled with fun for little (and big) ones. For more information please see the Visiting Battle pages.   

Almonry Project

As has been published recently, one of Battle’s oldest heritage buildings, The Almonry, is in desperate need of repair. Battle Town Council presented a vision for The Almonry, setting out four different options for the future of this wonderful building. The Almonry Development Working Group (ADWG), Finance & General Purposes Committee and finally Full Council, agreed the, recommendations for works that ensure the building is made safe and accessible for all and to support the town’s post - COVID-19 recovery through tourism. More information can be found on The Almonry project page. 

Battle Health Pathway

The fantastic team behind the Battle Health Pathway project have successfully received sufficient funding to go ahead with the works, which began on Monday 13th July. We look forward to welcoming this wonderful new addition to the town.

COVID-19

The pandemic has had a huge effect on our community, with a number of fantastic volunteers stepping in to help those in need. We are now seeing a slowly changing environment, with high street shops opening their doors and play parks reopening. We are still sharing help and support during Covid-19 on our website as we transition through these challenging times. Battle Town Council are also offering post Covid-19 recovery grants to eligible businesses to help aid recovery. Alternatively please see gov.uk for latest COVID-19 news and guidance.

1066 Writing Competition

The 1066 writing competition is once again calling for creative writers of all abilities to submit their work for this year’s writing competition. Under the title ‘If Only…’ entrants are invited to write exactly 1066 words - prose, poetry or play in any genre, the closing date is 31st July 2020 so get writing! For more information please see our website.

Please note: Once published, all meeting agendas and minutes will be available to download from the relevant Committee page of the website.