Should Woodbridge's Shire Hall be repaired at a cost of at least £500,000 - paid for by higher council tax - or sold?

The future of a 16th century, Grade I listed Suffolk town council building will be in the hands of the public, who will be consulted in the New Year. 

Woodbridge residents will be able to have a say on options for the town’s Shire Hall, where the town council is based and holds its regular meetings. 

As yet, no dates or venues have been set for the consultations, organised by the town council, but the town’s Mayor Patrick Gillard said the plan was to hold the events during the early months of next year. 

The Shire Hall, which was built by Thomas Seckford in 1575, is showing the effects of its age and has had issues with the timber within the walls, including dry rot and damp. 

Mr Gillard said choices on the table included carrying out repairs at a cost of at least £500,000 or selling the building. 

East Anglian Daily Times: Woodbridge Mayor Patrick Gillard said the council wanted to gauge the views of the public on the future of Shire HallWoodbridge Mayor Patrick Gillard said the council wanted to gauge the views of the public on the future of Shire Hall (Image: Ben Greenhouse)

He added: “It is a big decision and we need to address it properly. We think we know what the options are, but if we decided to pay for the repairs, then we need to make sure the people think that is the right thing to do.” 

If the council decided to proceed with the repairs, then a loan would be taken out, which would need to be repaid through council tax. 

Mr Gillard explained for this reason the council needed to gauge the opinions of residents, as they were likely to be faced with increased council tax payments in the future for the town council’s section of the bill. 

Furthermore, there was a possibility further expenses would arise for previously undiagnosed issues discovered as the repairs were carried out and therefore the overall bill was likely to climb higher than £500,000. 

“Certainly, we know that one of the things that we may have to do is spend a large amount of money on external repairs and when we say large, probably more than £500,000. It will be a significant lump even if we did it at a lower level and we want people to understand that,” Mr Gillard said.