FOLLOWING the letters published last week and the comments from the Member of Parliament, I must clarify the present situation regarding the Town Hall.

It was the Town Council that made very strong representations to Wiltshire County Council that they should demand that the Court Service should make good their depredations of the Town Hall, thus making it suitable again as a public building. These efforts (including the assistance of our MP) came to nothing.

It is necessary to have a design draft available BEFORE a valuation can take place; a valuation is required BEFORE a business plan can be drawn up; the business plan cannot be completed until the County Council have decided their plans for the future of the Register Office etc. All these need to be done BEFORE a grant application is made.

On one side the council is criticised for not making progress, on the other for not planning ahead! Members and officers are working hard to achieve a sound design and financial outcome that will deliver a multi-function Town Hall that will meet the needs of the 21st century and the residents of Trowbridge, a building which will enhance the centre of the town.

It is too important a building to become a political football.

G C BURNAN OBE, Town Councillor, Trowbridge

IT IS incorrect to say that no progress has been made on the project to revamp Trowbridge Town Hall (WT September 22).

Progress on the matter has been slower than we would have liked, but we have to follow a careful process.

It was necessary to have the Capital Building Fund in place, no grant is likely without an element of matched funding.

We pressed the County Council to require the Courts Commission to accept responsibility for making it suitable for public use, they were unsuccessful.

We are working on the business plan, but await the County Council's decision on whether the registration service will relocate to the Town Hall. This is a key part of making the plan viable.

When the business plan is complete we can apply for a project planning grant.

So we are very clear about what we need to do.

As to a commercial answer - the banks, quoted last week, were successfully converted from private houses. The Town Hall was designed as a civic building and would be very costly to convert, as well as being severely limited by its listed status. Take heed of the court building in Devizes, sold by the county and passed from company to company for 20 years, now a derelict eyesore.

We have received a great deal of support for our initiative in trying to save the Town Hall for the people of Trowbridge. We cannot afford to allow this important building in the centre of Trowbridge to fall into decay and become derelict.

CLLR ANGELA MILROY, Trowbridge Town councillor. Trowbridge

SELLING off the Town Hall to some generous private company to bring it back into use does sound attractive.

But the sale of both the old Tesco and Ushers sites in Trowbridge shows what can happen when a developer buys a site - not a lot.

In Devizes we made a major mistake. Instead of keeping the Assize Court in public hands, the County Council sold it to a private company. Private companies have passed it on from hand to hand for a quarter of a century. The building has become dilapidated through neglect and vandalism; taken over by squatters, it was seriously damaged by fire.

Now at last local councils are talking of compulsory purchase and getting grants to make good the damage. The cost will be much greater than if the building had been kept in public hands.

Once Trowbridge Town Hall is sold off to a private company, no-one in Trowbridge has any say over its future. Bringing Trowbridge Town Hall back into public use was never going to be easy, but compared with the gamble of selling it off to a private company, as Devizes did with the Assize building, it is a much less risky option.

D.M.COLCOMB, Devizes