A BID by town councillors to take control of the old district council offices on the High Street failed to get past a vote last Thursday. Dunmow s councillors had been negotiating internally for nearly four months on whether they would like to purchase th

A BID by town councillors to take control of the old district council offices on the High Street failed to get past a vote last Thursday.

Dunmow's councillors had been negotiating internally for nearly four months on whether they would like to purchase the building to make into a new town hall, creating a new tourist information centre and allowing all the charities currently housed there to remain on the same site.

After district councillors John Davey and mayor Clive Smith, both also on the town council, declared interests and left the meeting, the vote was left to the remaining town councillors to decide whether they should take up the option to buy the offices.

According to Cllr Frank Silver the vote was five to one against with only himself voting in favour. He said: "It is very disappointing, because it was a great opportunity for us to take control of a large building that the town council could do a lot with. It is even more disappointing that as a result of our district councillors having to declare an interest the vote was slightly unfair."

Cllrs Davey and Smith have both shown their support for purchasing a new town hall in the past, which could have made a difference to the overall result.

The charities and organisations, including the community information centre, will now remain in the district council offices, but with the prospect of the building being sold off to the highest bidder, their future remains uncertain.

One community centre employee has told the Broadcast that they are 'in the dark' over plans to move to the library. She said: "We only know what we read in the papers. The option of moving to the new White Street library is one we are concerned about. Looking at the floor space on the plans it seems that there will not be enough room for all of us, along with a police desk and tourist information desk."

What do you think? E-mail us at nick.thompson@archant.co.uk

Or drop you can in a letter to the Saracen's Head in the High Street on Tuesday or Thursday between 11am and 3pm.