Bude-Stratton Town Council has renamed the Ivor Potter Hall in the Parkhouse Centre to the Parkhouse Centre Main Hall.

The item was brought to the full council agenda by Bude’s mayor, Cllr Bob Willingham and the matter was discussed at length during the meeting on Thursday, June 6.

The decision to change the name was voted unanimously in favour, with each of the town councillors agreeing that the name change would be a good idea.

According to Cllr Willingham, the recent expenditure and investment into the hall has been the main reason to change the name, to consolidate and improve the marketing of the Parkhouse Centre.

He said: “We have upgraded the air conditioning and modernised the lighting with a new lighting board.

“This has been a considerable investment for us and we are hoping that the name change will allow us to hire out the hall on a more frequent basis.”

The new air conditioning cost the council £10,800, along with new hall blinds totalling £2,287.06. New stage curtains have also been added for a fee of £3,270.80, as well as new flooring due in December (£3,000) and new lobby blinds next week (£900). The most expensive however has been the new stage lighting totalling £18,000.

With a total of £38,257.86 spending on the refurbishment of the hall, the town council is keen for it to be hired out as much as possible.

Cllr Willingham explained that when people enquire about the hall they ask for the ‘main hall’ and rarely refer to it by the name, Ivor Potter Hall.

He said: “I spoke to the admin staff and they explained when they take bookings they call it the main hall within the Parkhouse Centre so it makes sense to change the name.

“I understand that he did some work with youth organisations and was a play-write, however many people do a lot of things and it makes sense to name it something to do with the hall.

“If you search the location it doesn’t come up, even if you search Ivor Potter, very little comes up. It would make sense to call it something relating to where it is.”

According to Cllr Willingham the council discussed the matter at length and came up with a variety of different names before coming up with the final decision, which was approved by each of the councillors.

However the decision has caused upset to some of Bude’s residents, as according to them, the name was reflective of a person who gave a lot to the community of Bude.

Lucille Opie remembers Ivor Potter well. She said: “Ivor Potter deserves to be remembered in this town for a very long time. He is part of the history of Bude.”

According to Ms Opie, he had a lot to do with the hall being built onto the old Bude Junior school, which is now the council office.

He encouraged people, both young and old to take part in what Ms Opie referred to as, ‘an exciting and interesting activity in their spare time’. They learnt many important life skills, skills there was not enough time to cover properly in schools.

She said: “It helped them to learn how to socialise and respect others, life skills needed by everyone and lifelong friends were made.

“Those young people made positive use of their spare time which saved many from resorting to drink and drugs through sheer boredom when in their teens.”

She feels as though other members of the Bude community will be upset by the news, as many would have experienced something to do with one of Ivor’s shows.

“They haven’t forgotten him. As they have become parents and grandparents they have told their children about Ivor Potter and what he did for Bude. If it wasn’t for Ivor, I very much doubt whether the hall would have been built until many years later.

“The name ‘The Ivor Potter Hall’ sounds special and we all know it as that, just as we know the other rooms as one, two, three and four in the Parkhouse Centre. Perhaps we should name those rooms after notable people who have been rewarded in Bude?”

In response to Ms Opie, Cllr Willingham said he wished members of the public had brought the matter up before the recent meeting, when the vote took place.

He said: “We had posted the proposal on the agenda on the six town council notice boards and on the website.

“As aways we welcome the public to the meetings to hear their views and opinions. Or even for them to write in and we can read it out at the meetings.

“It is a shame that post decision reactions occur, especially as people have plenty of time to respond.”