I am glad to read in your pages that the future of the Crosfield Hall has not yet been decided, and that there are plans for further consultation, including another Citizens' Assembly (Advertiser, March 8).

However, we have already had one of these, and one of the things the resulting masterplan illustrates is the gulf between an attractive vision and the nuts and bolts of finance and planning required to turn it into reality. 

I am quite sure that since the last round of consultation Romsey Future and maybe others have been considering the options. Indeed, a plan to move the Crosfield Hall across the bypass may have come from a council meeting as it didn't appear in the masterplan. Nevertheless it was presented to the Romsey Forum by Cllr Adams-King last autumn. Therefore may I suggest that instead of exploring theoretical options, the next Citizen's Assembly is presented with a series of costed options to assist discussion? That might help us all to keep our feet on the ground. 

I notice that Cllr Adams-King says that if any change is made to the Crosfield Hall site we would be without a hall for two years, and therefore another hall would have to be built elsewhere. Even if it was two years - and presumably a simple renovation would not take that long - surely we are sufficiently resourceful to use other venues just on a temporary basis provided that the plan to rebuild the hall was in place? There are several halls within the town, and new accommodation now in Abbotswood could take up the slack in the short term. 

Jane Brambley
Mill Lane, 
Romsey

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