Wiltshire Council updates on City Hall

Wiltshire Council has reiterated its intention to reopen City Hall as an entertainment venue as it is at an advanced stage of hiring a specialist company to market the venue to prospective organisations on a long lease.

The council is in the process of finalising the appointment of a market provider to market City Hall on its behalf. This market provider will support in identifying suitable organisations who are best placed to enter a lease in excess of 25 years in length and subsequently enable the future success of the City Hall. A stipulation for prospective operators is that the venue remains as an entertainment venue. Once an appropriate operator is appointed, Wiltshire Council would retain the overall ownership of the venue.

Wiltshire Council Leader. Cllr Richard Clewer, said:

"We see the City Hall as an integral part of Salisbury's future, and our sole focus is to secure an appropriate external operator who will reopen and manage it on our behalf as a thriving entertainment venue which complements our long-term vision for the city.

"We are aware that there has been a little confusion created due to the legal process that we must go through in order to grant a long lease. We did clarify this at the time in January, but the formal wording of this process, the 'intention to enter into a relevant disposal' of the site, is just part of the statutory procedure of us informing the Local Planning Authority of our intentions. I reiterate that we are not looking to sell the venue or change the site for another purpose, we remain committed to reopening it as an entertainment venue.

"I will be meeting with the Friends of the City Hall group to speak to them about the process we're following to reopen and take any questions they may have.

"We are entering into the advanced stages of a detailed procurement process and finalising the appointment of a market provider to help us engage with potential operators very soon."

Wiltshire Council has provided a brief written update for this week's Salisbury Area Board (7 March 2024), but stakeholders will be kept up to date when it is in a position to confirm further details.

Information on City Hall can be found at City Hall webpage (opens new window).