Rochford District Council is to revisit its requirements for the Mill Arts & Events Centre site following a decision taken at council last night. The Full Council meeting saw councillors agree that a separate Outline Business Case, to include a full options analysis, be undertaken with regards to the Mill Arts & Events Centre site and the results brought back to Council in due course

The move follows Leader, Cllr Simon Wootton’s previous announcement that,  “We have also taken on board representations about the green spaces, locally important trees and concerns about residential development. Turning to the Mill Hall itself, we received considerable feedback about the proposed replacement building, especially in relation to the optimum size it should be. We have not come to any view as yet, but it is imperative, whatever the eventual solution is, that it meets community needs and is also financially viable.

Cllr Wootton added; “I am also clear that any new building must be designed and built in a way to be highly environmentally sustainable, supporting the Council’s ambition to become carbon neutral. For these reasons, any new scheme for the Mill Hall site as a whole, will be subject to a further options analysis. This will include an in-person engagement process with the public to gauge views before a final decision is made.”

Full engagement with residents was undertaken with the original proposals and the feedback from those findings can be seen on the Voyage Partnership Website

The new outline business case will come before Council in 2022.