Bridgnorth Town Hall could get new lease of life

The timbered building on stilts dates back to 1652, has oak panels and is a familiar sight to the many thousands of visitors Bridgnorth gets in its town centre every year.

But a recent meeting of Bridgnorth Town Council heard the building was "under-used" and only booked out for a handful of weddings and events each year, with councillor Edward Marshall calling the building a "white elephant" and saying it had been for a number of years.

Councillor Ian Wellings however proposed a working party be established to look at the viability of providing better access and repairs to the building with a view to it bringing in more income.

He said: "This is the jewel in the crown of Bridgnorth not the Wetherspoons' pub, it is an iconic building and I think we can at least try to make sure it is better used.

"That may take quite a bit of work to bring it into the 21st century - for example making the access to the building better and bringing the toilet facilities up to date.

"Obviously it is an old building and they need renovating and work on them but there is no reason why that can't be done or at least looked into because it is iconic and a great venue to hold events and parties for example.

"I like a challenge and this may be a bit of one but we have a good range of people on the town council with plenty of professional expertise and at the moment the building is not being used to its full potential."

The last refurbishment work was carried out in 2015 and town council meeting used to be held there until the offices were moved to their present location at Westgate.

The working party plan was unanimously agreed on and surveys are now being carried out to see what work can be done.