The new 30 year lease of the Beehive was signed recently, after more than two years of hard work by the Beehive Working Group.
I chaired Beehive Working Group from late 2023 onwards. The working group and the town clerk met every 2 weeks, and sometimes more frequently, to keep the process of the lease tender and lease negotiations progressing to timetable.
We also had several meetings with directors of Honiton Community Complex (HCC), the charitable company that runs the Beehive, whilst negotiating the lease terms.
I think the final lease and service level agreement strike a good balance of giving HCC the security of a long term lease whilst protecting the interests of local taxpayers.
In recent years, HCC have not been eligible for grants from many organisations, such as the Arts Council, because there was only a short time to run on their lease of the Beehive. Now they have a 30 year lease they have the potential to obtain grant funding from more sources, recognising that their arts offering serves a much wider area than just Honiton.
To give HCC time to build up alternative grant funding, there are three years of tapered grant funding from the town council. Of course, if HCC are in profit during these three years and don’t need this funding, then it will stop.
If HCC ask for any more funding from the council, then they are required to provide any information the council may request and to comply with any conditions attached to the funding. So, hopefully, that avoids the situation we had in 2023/24 when HCC refused to allow town councillors to see their accounts when asking for financial support.
As councillors, it is our duty to ensure that public money is spent responsibly. In this context, that means being able to scrutinise HCC’s finances if they ask for more funding from the town council.
If properly enforced, the new lease and service level agreement should help the council manage the relationship with HCC in a business-like and financially responsible manner.
Sources:
- Service Level Agreement
- Lease
- Joint Press Release by Honiton Town Council and HCC