The decision last year of Conservatives on Mid Sussex District Council to close Clair Hall without regard to a public consultation and their failure to heed Liberal Democrat concerns about the closure was revealed to have cost taxpayers £27,000 in legal advice. As a result the Council has had to commit to new public consultation on its future.  The Council’s Conservative administration ignored Liberal Democrat requests for the Council’s Scrutiny Committee to review the decision which could ultimately have saved some of these costs.  Conservatives didn’t follow Council rules, and cost the Council dearly, yet don’t want the Council to consider what lessons can be learnt from the debacle.  The venue is currently being used as a vaccination centre, but the Council needs to make clear in any consultation that there is a realistic option of reopening the hall to the public.  The Council needs to engage with Haywards Heath residents interested in running the hall as a community asset which could secure its future.   Conservatives have form here, they shut the Martlets in Burgess Hill without establishing a replacement, and now most of Mid Sussex is without any major performance venue.