New Mills Town Council spent £83,000 on controversial move of the heritage centre

In April 2022 the heritage centre on Rock Mill Lane, which had been part of the town centre for more than 30 years, closed with the council relocating it to High Lea Hall.

This meant rent payers High Peak Community Arts - which were based at High Lea Hall - were served notice by the council.

This controversial move created anger among residents and a petition with more than 500 signatures was presented to the council last year calling on them to reconsider and consult residents about such a big move.

However, a year on and with 12 newly elected councillors the current town council is dealing with the problems from their predecessors.

A statement to the Buxtuon Advertiser from the new council members they said: “One of the issues the new town council has inherited is the heritage centre which was originally located on Rock Mill Lane and was moved to its new location by the previous Town Council in 2022.”

The town council minutes from April 2023 indicate that for the 2022/23 financial year the previous council spent £83,798 on the heritage centre.

The council say some of this cost would have been incurred without the move but the new councillors do not know how much.

The statement said: “The previous town council had not produced a business plan to consider how the centre would operate so the new councillors have been faced with making some quick decisions.”

Last year the previous council submitted plans to High Peak Borough Council to convert the ground floor of High Lea Hall into a visitors centre open to the public with the first floor being changed from commercial use to residential.

However, in November of 2022 these plans were withdrawn by the town council.

But looking to the future the new town council says one of its priorities is to re-establish and re-open the Heritage Centre in its new location in High Lea Hall as it has been closed for 18 months.

The statement continued: “The staff have done a great job to repair and convert the ground floor of the Grade II Listed High Lea Hall, working with contractors where necessary to install the town’s exhibits, including the model of the town.

“We want to re-open as soon as we can, but need to make sure we have everything in place to make that happen.”

The newly elected members say they will work closely with the local community and previous and new volunteers to develop those plans.“We hope to re-open the Heritage Centre later in the summer, with a few open days at weekends from Saturday July, 8 before the official opening.

“When we initially re-open the centre will continue to exhibit New Mills’s rich heritage and history, alongside a basic cafe, gift shop and plant sales, but we’ll be considering what else the centre could do or offer to make sure it is sustainable in the long-term.”The council say that the information centre will continue to be located at the Rock Mill Centre in the former Heritage Centre building.