Public meeting to state case for Chichester's law courts

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A public meeting should be held to discuss the closure of Chichester's law courts, the city council agreed on Wednesday, June 22.

Councillors present voted unanimously in favour of holding the public event to examine the future of the courts, provided members of the legal profession were free to attend as expert speakers.

The motion was proposed by Cllr Claire Apel following concerns about plans to relocate Chichester’s post office into bookshop Sussex Stationers.

Cllr Richard Plowman said: “We had an excellent meeting here with the solicitors and with two judges and the amount of information they gave was actually quite revealing.

“That information we heard, particularly from the judges, ought to be imparted to a much larger audience. I still think there is time.

“If you lose the law courts, if you lose the post office, we’re actually diminishing Chichester as a place, and I think that is absolutely unacceptable.”

While all councillors were keen the city retain the service provided by the courts, it was agreed a meeting without legal experts would not be effective.