Labour Opts To Keep Bohemia Road Base
By Rick Dillon
The future of the Hastings & Rye Labour Party headquarters in Bohemia Road, St Leonards was debated at a packed meeting of over 60 members last Saturday. The premises, known as the EDC, a former pub in an 1870s terrace gifted to the party 24 years ago by loyalist Ellen Draper, are not large enough to host such a number. Instead the meeting was held in the WRVS building near the seafront.
As most members were already well aware, the Bohemia Road building is in visibly dilapidated condition: upkeep has been neglected and essential maintenance ignored; plasterwork is crumbling; in the loos, water runs down the walls; no one really knows the state of the roof.. The party rents offices elsewhere for a full-time party worker because the EDC’s central heating is not working.The meeting was informed that it would cost £30,000 to bring the premises to a standard to be expected in the 21st century. On the other hand the proceeds of any sale would not be sufficient to enable the party to relocate. Furthermore they could not be spent on campaigning, since the national party insists they could only be used to buy a new headquarters.
With this background Treasurer Eileen Masters presented a business plan to renovate the building so that part of it can be rented out – potentially a future source of income.
And by a four to one majority, 48 party members voted to approve it – though where the requisite money would come from was not satisfactorily answered.
Sceptics, a ‘doubting dozen’ of renegades, had argued that the party should cut its losses and get out. Taking account of Brexit and the fragility of the May government, an election could happen at any time. Precious funds should be channelled into campaigning for Labour’s candidate Peter Chowney to wrest the Hastings & Rye seat from Amber Rudd after coming so close last time.
But the majority argument, that the party in Hastings needs ‘a home’(even though the EDC is now too small to house the meetings of a much larger local party following the post-2015 Corbyn surge), prevailed. Former MP Michael Foster reminded members how important the Bohemia Road base had been in his election victory in 1997. Nostalgia still runs deep in the modern Labour party.
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https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/articles/news/labour-opts-to-keep-bohemia-road-base/https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/labourPartyRose.jpghttps://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/labourPartyRose-150x150.jpgNewsHastings & Rye Labour Party,Michael Foster,Peter ChowneyBy Rick Dillon The future of the Hastings & Rye Labour Party headquarters in Bohemia Road, St Leonards was debated at a packed meeting of over 60 members last Saturday. The premises, known as the EDC, a former pub in an 1870s terrace gifted to the party 24 years ago...HIP [email protected]UserHastings Independent Press
As a result of the vote in favour of renovating the Ellen Draper Centre, a team of three, namely Nigel Sinden, Eileen Masters and Jim Cakebread, set to work obtaining surveys.
A generous donation contributed to the bulk of the subsequent work bringing the building up to safety and fire regulation standards.
All work was completed to the required standards.
A group of artists applied to rent the newly available studios. They specifically stated that there was no need for office standard decor as there would be a lot of paint splashed around.
The regular rent from these tenants has continued to be a good, reliable source of income for the Local Labour Party ever since.
Since these artists moved in there has been a fire, possibly arson, that started in and destroyed one studio and damaged surrounding parts of the building.
This could potentially have resulted in severe losses for the local Labour Party had the foregoing renovation and fire safety requirements not been in place.
As it turned out, there was an insurance pay-out that enabled repair of all fire damage.
Although the main downstairs meeting room can only accommodate about 30 people safely, the income enables the hiring of larger venues possible when needed.
The above information is correct to the best of my knowledge but please feel free to amend anything if you know better.