“We have seen the report concerning our negotiations with the Town Council on the front page of the Bishop’s Stortford Independent (16-22 November 2022).

We would like to reassure staff, volunteers, friends, supporters, customers and suppliers of South Mill Arts that we are not planning to vacate, sell or redevelop our site for housing.

As part of our discussions with the Town Council to secure much needed funding, we are considering their proposal to purchase our freehold in return for a long lease over the South Mill Arts site in South Road. Any such arrangement has to secure its future and remain in line with our charitable objectives. To inform our deliberations it became important for us to understand the full commercial value of our freehold to ensure we comply with our internal obligations and that of the Charity Commission. However, we do wish to emphasize that even though we have obtained this professional opinion, we only intend for the site to continue to be home to our museum and arts centre – both of which mean so much to the community of Bishop’s Stortford and the surrounding area.  Negotiations with the Town Council are ongoing.”

South Mill Arts Trust