Ware Town Council and Southern Maltings Community Group
Minutes of a Public meeting held at 7.30pm on Friday 28 February at Fletcher’s Lea,
Ware Priory
1.
Welcome and Introductions
The Mayor welcomed everyone to the meeting. This had been called at the request
of the Southern Maltings Community Group because of concern over the proposed
sale of the Southern Maltings by East Herts Council. The Mayor introduced Craig
McKenzie.
2.
What’s this all about?
Mr McKenzie had been a Ware resident for 25 years and was the founder of
Wareonline. He had used the Southern Maltings himself for band practice in the
80’s, the photo studio, Ware Arts Centre film showings, Waggers social club and the
beer festivals in the Arts Centre.
In Autumn 2013 he found out that Waggers would be closing in December. The
function room there was a great community asset, a fantastic space that would be a
great loss to the community. It was in a great central location and had a unique
atmosphere. In January 2014 owners East Herts Council put the building up for sale
and Mr McKenzie was horrified at the prospect of losing it. It was 14 years until the
lease to the Arts Centre expired and after that time there may not be a Ware Arts
Centre. He decided that something had to be done and a group of about 12 people
got together. They found out that in May 2013 a committee of 4 people at East Herts
Council had decided to sell the building. There had been no consultation with East
Herts councillors for Ware or with Ware Town Council. The group was asking that
the building be transferred to a community group. Ware Town Council had
supported this by nominating the building to be included on the Community Asset
Register. The group had the verbal support of Ware’s District Councillors and now
needed to show that it had community support. Ware Town Council had agreed to
hold this public meeting to gauge public support for this opportunity to save this
unique malting building which is part of Ware’s history. Mr McKenzie introduced
David Perman.
3.
A bit of history
Mr Perman had been both secretary of the Ware Society and Ware Museum. In
2005 he worked with Brian Worthington as historical adviser when the Ware Arts
Centre was putting in its bid to for lottery funding. The Southern Malting was an
important meeting place which was well used. It was a unique survivor of the
malting industry in Ware. He gave a description of the building’s history:-
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This is one of three parallel maltings behind the Kibes Lane carpark. The northern
two maltings are in private ownership but the Southern Malting has been owned by
East Herts District Council since its inception in 1974. Malt production was carried
on in the Southern Malting from about 1838 until 1950, when the building was used
by Thorn Electrics for the storage of television sets.
This site has been associated with the malting industry since the eighteenth century,
being originally part of the malting yard of the Dickenson family before New Road
was built across their land in the 1830’s. The present building, constructed in yellow
brick, dates from the late 1830’s and was intended for the production of “brown malt”
used in the brewing of “porter beer”. At that time – with the coming of the railways –
the Hertfordshire malting industry was in fierce competition with the maltsters of
Newark, who supplied malt to the brewers of Burton-on-Trent. These brick maltings
therefore incorporated a great deal of up-to-date Victorian technology. The kilns had
wire floors, held in place by iron bars which were fixed on the outside by tie plates.
The tie plates bearing the name Charles Wells are still visible. Charles Wells ran the
Falcon Ironworks in Ware High Street and specialised in fittings for the malting
industry. The swivelling cowls above the kilns were also a Charles Wells invention –
before his time, cowls were of the fixed “mortar board” design.
The interior of the Southern Malting still has the three malt floors in place, with a
barley store and steeping chamber at the west end and the kilns at the east end.
The wire floor of the kiln can still be seen from the ground floor and the inside of the
cowls from the first floor. The kilns and the malt store at the west end now form the
Ware Arts Centre, which in 2005 carried out a thorough refurbishment and
restoration on two floors with funding mainly from the Heritage Lottery Fund. In
preparation for that project, the Arts Centre trustees signed a 25 year lease for that
part of the building with East Herts Council. The ground floor of the remainder of the
building was used until 2013 by Mr. Peter Smith as Waggers Social Club.
The Southern Malting is the last surviving historic malting in Ware with its kilns in
place – in the 1880’s there were well over 100 malthouses in the town, many with
more than one kiln. This is a unique survivor of a once nationally important industry.
The Southern Malting is listed Grade II by English Heritage.
4. What can we use it for?
Mr McKenzie asked the community for ideas about what the building could be used
for. He suggested that this would not be a pub as Waggers had had to close. The
following suggestions were made:
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Workshops for artists and craftspeople partitioned into small studios and a
café bar area
A heritage centre for the malting industry
Extension to Ware Museum
Extension to Ware Arts Centre
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Community kiln
The upstairs area could be a money generating area as it had capacity for
events for up to 200 people
Indoor market
Dances and dance classes
Live music venue
Rehearsal space, perhaps for Ware Operatic Society and Ware Brass
Theatre
Multi-use area for theatre, live music etc
Have a replica of the Great Bed or try and get the Great Bed back and the
museum would be the focal point of other uses – noted that if the museum
moved completely it would have to pay back lottery grants used for
improvements
Community run micro-brewery
There was a need to get a group together to take this forward and volunteers were
needed from the community to assist with projects. He was looking for agreement to
take this forward. He introduced Cllr John Wing.
5.
The constitution and invites to join
Cllr Wing said that Ware Town Council had made an application on behalf of the
town to put the building on the Community Asset Register. To date 4 applications
had been made and all had been denied. If this application was not accepted then
he could not imagine what would be so he was confident it would be registered. This
would stop the sale of the building for a 6 month period. The group would need to
negotiate with East Herts Council to acquire the freehold or leasehold. Cllr Wing
thought East Herts Council wanted to relinquish the freehold as they did not want
continuing responsibility for maintenance. The group would need to develop a
business plan for use of the building. The guide price for purchasing the building
was £650,000 and it was unrealistic to try and raise this in such a short period.
This morning he had obtained information from a former Finance Officer of Ware
Urban District Council who was involved in the work to move from 6 urban and rural
district councils to East Herts District Council in 1974. He said the maltings were
made as a gift to Ware Urban District Council. Cllr Wing did not know if this was true
or still relevant but if it was a gift for the benefit of the people of Ware it is in the
same position as the Priory was. 2 councillors went to court on behalf of Ware Town
Council for the Priory to be recognised by the High Court as in the ownership of
Ware Town Council and not East Herts Council. He needed to follow this up but it
would involve negotiation with East Herts Council and two of the maltings had
already been sold.
Cllr Wing passed round copies of the draft constitution which was based on those of
other community organisations in Ware. It proposed that the Southern Malting
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Community Group act as a body to negotiate with East Herts Council and to manage
and sustain the malting into the future. He was proposing setting up an Executive
Committee consisting of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and 8
other members. He suggested holding the group’s first Annual General Meeting in
about one month’s time to fill these executive positions. All those who had signed
the attendance sheet tonight would be contacted with notice of the meeting. The
meeting was then opened up for questions and comments.
Colin Lovatt considered the running costs must be very high and was concerned
about what condition the roof, electrics and structure of the building were in. Cllr
Wing agreed that these concerns must be foremost in mind when taking on a
building. He had had conversations with two builders and an electrician to try to
gauge costs of long-term maintenance. He was trying to find out the cost of
recovering the roof and this is something that would only need doing every 80 to 100
years. The Arts Centre had been rewired and the builder considered this to be in
good condition. The work in Waggers had been carried out to a very high standard
and the builder also considered this to be in good condition. He would not take on
an old building without looking at how much needed doing on a long-term basis. He
though there was capacity to raise money through regular use and pointed out that
Waggers had been able to pay a rent of £20,000 from their profits.
Mr Perman raised concern that East Herts Council had refused previous applications
for assets to be included on the Community Asset Register. This nomination would
stop East Herts Council from selling the building and he thought it should go to the
Secretary of State. He was concerned that a developer would be able to get round it
being included on the list. The Buryfields had been given to the people of Ware but
a judge had ruled that this should stay with East Herts Council in the interests of the
local economy. Cllr Phyllis Ballam believed that as East Herts Council owned the
building in question the application for nomination on the Community Asset Register
would have to be decided by a neighbouring authority.
Peter Smith said he was a member of Ware Operatic Society which meets at Ware
Arts Centre twice a week and he was sure they would give considerable assistance
to the group. This was reinforced by Molly Smith who said the refurbishment had
transformed it into a lovely venue and it would be criminal if it was bulldozed over.
Rose Ferguson noted that if the nomination was successful it would lead to a 6
month delay of the sale and she was concerned that as part of austerity measures
that the sale could be part of East Herts Council’s strategy for saving. The group
would need to have a strategy to stop that.
Ian Ball asked if anyone had looked into whether East Herts Council had the
constitutional right to sell a community asset.
Maurice Warner owned the malting next door and agreed with David Perman about
East Herts Council. He remembered the Southern Malting being put right and had
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confidence that he building was in good condition. It should be used and kept for the
people of Ware.
Cllr Mark Pope did not believe that East Herts Council was selling the building in
order to raise funds as they had considerable reserves. It was more likely to be so
that they did not have to be responsible for it in the future. He was in favour of what
the group was trying to do and had contacted the Leader of East Herts Council and
the Executive member for finance asking to discuss it but he had not yet had a reply.
East Herts Council was short of revenue funding not capital.
Josie Fish suggested that if East Herts Council would not register the building as a
community asset could we apply to the Heritage Lottery fund for a grant towards the
purchase of the building as it was one of the few maltings remaining in Hertfordshire.
Jan Wing explained why we should be fighting for the maltings. The Draft District
Plan was now out for consultation. If Ware had to take more than its share of
housing then it would be counterproductive to lose a community building when new
residents would need community facilities and would look to Ware as a centre. The
group needed to marry up its arguments with the District Plan consultation. A unique
community facility should not be lost.
John Beech asked what relationship Ware Town Council would have with the group.
The Mayor said that the minutes of tonight’s meeting would go to the next full
Council meeting on 24 March to decide whether to appoint a Council representative
to the group. Representations in response to the nomination for the building to be
included on the Community Asset Register had to be with East Herts Council by 28
March and she urged people attending to make individual representations. The
minutes of this meeting would also be given to the group to make representations.
Sylvia Hovell asked Ware Town Council to hold an extraordinary meeting to consider
its representation.
Cllr Pope pointed out that Ware Town Council had already given support by
nominating the asset for inclusion on the Community Asset Register and holding this
public meeting.
The Town Clerk said that Ware Town Council had already made its representation to
East Herts Council by sending in the nomination form and accompanying letter.
Mrs Hovell asked for Cllr Jeanette Taylor’s views.
Cllr Taylor an East Herts District Councillor and County Councillor said she was here
to listen tonight and this issue had not yet come to East Herts Council.
Rosie Ferguson asked if a template representation could be sent to everyone. Cllr
Wing gave the address for people to write to and said he could email all those
present with the reply details and a list of points that could be made but it usually
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received a better response if people wrote individual letters rather than one standard
one. He said that although Ware’s councillors on East Herts Council supported this,
the town had 7 councillors in a council of 50.
Colin McIntyre asked how we could ensure that Ware’s councillors on East Herts
Council would support them. The Mayor advised lobbying them.
A vote was taken on whether to set up a community group to acquire the Southern
Maltings for Ware. All were in favour except for Cllr Taylor who abstained.
It was agreed to acquire the Southern Maltings for Ware.
It was agreed that Craig McKenzie would act as interim Chairman.
Mr McKenzie asked all those interested in joining the group to introduce themselves
after the meeting.
6.
Summation and close of meeting
The Mayor thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 8.35pm.
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