Horsham residents like to express their thoughts through the local papers. The most recent letter that has caught our eye is from Barbara Worley, who like members of the Trust, has been affronted by the column in the Wsct given over to Pedro Martins and his philosophies. This letter was not given space on the website of the Wsct, so here it is. It eventually appeared on the website 4th August 2014.

2nd April 2013

Ref: Article – Restoring the old Town Hall to the heart of the community. Page 68 WSCT 28.3.2013

    When I started reading Editor in chief Gary Shipton’s review of Bill’s restaurant now trading from Horsham Town Hall I thought what a nasty thing to do, rubbing salt into the still open wounds of the people who did not want this to come to pass and still think it should have been retained for the community whatever their circumstances.

   He says that the restaurant is a meeting place, a social hub which has surpassed what the Town Hall’s achievements were in their previous incarnation. I don’t agree. People on low incomes cannot afford Bill’s fish pie at £12.95 or steak and chips at £15.95 – sauces extra.

   As I read on I calmed down somewhat as the review got weirder and weirder. He said the staff  are youthful, polite and GOOD LOOKING. Does that mean that anyone over the age of 25, rather plain or heaven forbid ugly need not apply to work in Bill’s Horsham. He did seem also to be much taken with Pedro, George and Sam’s skills.

   What Bill’s does is to attract customers into a fantasy world of pretending to be in a Victorian workhouse atmosphere, with hard wooden benches and all the reclaimed paraphernalia which is Bill’s trademark but paying for the pleasure with prices as above.

   I felt, as I read on that Gary Shipton was having a metaphorical gun held at his head to write this rather amateurish review. Surely, he had come through the ranks as a reporter and would not have written this cloying article willingly.

   Reading between the lines I think that he has been made aware of what I was told a few weeks ago that Bill’s restaurants are being put out to franchise. If this is so and the person who said it had no reason to lie then Bill Collison must have been thinking about doing this when he opened Horsham in December last year. If so it has made Horsham District Council cabinet look fools, a bit like taking candy from a baby.  

   Several other people have also heard about the franchise alleged situation, one even to the extent that Bill Collison has sold out, perhaps Mr Shipton could either confirm or deny this.

   It has been commented on that Bill’s Horsham has not acquired the appeal that other branches have so I went in to have a coffee and this is how my visit went:

   My companion and I were greeted at the door by a lady I believe was the manageress. I said we would just like coffee and we elected to go upstairs. I asked where the disabled lift was she replied that there wasn’t one, they were not allowed to be installed in a listed building, this was strange because one was installed in the Leconfield Hall in Petworth in recent years.

   I was surprised to hear this because I always thought that the reason Horsham District Council wanted to offload the Town Hall, was because they didn’t want to spend money to update it for disabled people, perhaps that rule does not apply to restaurants.

   We pressed on and waited upstairs for someone to take our order, it was like the Marie Celeste up there, completely deserted, except for an uneaten, congealed breakfast on one of the tables.

   We wandered around for a while, criticising the badly done shabby chic painting. It looked as though someone had applied the chalk paint and then ‘machine gunned it.’ This trendy way of trying to make things old can be quite attractive when done properly. Still we waited and waited and as nobody came to serve us we back downstairs and left -  unrefreshed.

   The problems encountered by Bill’s in Horsham have been manifold. This company always acquires old and interesting buildings for their restaurants but I think they have come unstuck with this one. Because of its siting and former historic usage it has no ground around it to leave refuse, it is surrounded by footpaths. So large amounts of plastic bags, bottles etc., have been stored on the stairs outside the fire exit doors creating a dangerous situation. Food waste bags were put on the pavement after the small external store was overloaded. The contents became strewn  around the pavement, presumably the bags were torn open by foxes or even rats, I believe these bags are now stored in the basement.

   Complaints were made about the pervading smell of cooking, the extractors were also very noisy, these problems were blamed on being in a listed building.

   Apparently, it can be very cold inside the restaurant and apparently blankets are handed out to customers and surely this cannot be true, also hot water bottles.

   I do not think Mr. Shipton should have written this review. In it, on his own admission he turned his coat after spending a whole hour interviewing people in Horsham town about the future of their town hall. The article started out, I suppose, trying to be beguiling but went somewhat awry.

   At the top of the article it said that it was sponsored by Hexiweb, who on investigation turned out to be a digital marketing firm, consultants to the Leisure and Restaurants trade.

 

Shame on you Mr. Shipton  from Wendy Morriss

2.7.2013

 

   On my return from a holiday recently I read the copies of the West Sussex County Times published whilst I was away and kept for me by a friend.

   With so many problems making people locally so nervous and unhappy I don’t know why I bother but one is drawn to reading about it like moth to a flame.

   One item did leave me more annoyed than most was the one headed ‘Traffic restrictions under scrutiny.’

It seems obvious that this amounts to small businesses livelihoods versus chain restaurant businesses in East Street.

   What got me ‘ticking’ was a quote from Pedro Martin from the restaurant, which is now trading from Horsham’s Town Hall, which incidentally still has no disabled lift.

   Pedro bemoans the fact that his customers have been upset about the chairs and tables outside the restaurant having to be taken in at 4.30pm.

   This is from the man who provides and clips blankets onto his chairs because of our continual wet and cold weather.

   Only in the place ‘five minutes’ and moaning already, rather like the people who move into a village and immediately try to change things.

   Bill’s restaurant owners knew what the rules were, when they insisted on taking over the Town hall, regarding outside seating and canopies. They, allegedly, pushed for more but Horsham District Council were actually very strict about the quantity and times allowed.

   I looked down Market Square to the Town hall recently in the pouring rain and even the 3 or 4 chairs shoved up against the wall of the restaurant looked wet, cold and desolate, not an uncommon site, nowadays.

   The Daily Mail predicts that our summers will not get back to normal for 10 years.

   I also notice in the Wsct that people are leaving comment/letters published signed with strange sounding names no addresses. I suppose this is done through a computer. Also, they do not always seem to be very polite.

   Whenever I have written a letter to the Wsct it always has to be accompanied by a name and address and the content mustn’t be too contentious. I once forgot to put my address and missed having my letter published. I am not ‘au fait’ with all this computer malarkey but will now enter into the spirit of this new way of doing things.

 

MINNIE MOUSE, HOLLYWOOD.