Town Hall Talks: ‘The Changing Role of Town Halls in the Community’

Join us on Wednesday 25th November for our next Town Hall Talk: 'The Changing Role of Town Halls in the Community'

This talk will look at the history of Battersea Town Hall and explore the wider significance of civic spaces and what these spaces mean to the community. How should we conserve their heritage and share their legacies?

Tony Belton, local history expert and Latchmere Labour councillor will be leading us through the corridors of the past as we hear stories of our building during its 72 years as a functioning Town Hall. Our building has served many different purposes over the years; from hosting seminal speeches by radical politicians, including the first black mayor of a London borough- John Archer, to distributing ration books to locals during the Second World War.

Dr. Michael Short, Urban Planning lecturer at UCL, will be looking at the wider impact of the changing role of Town Halls in the community, exploring questions such as: for whom do we conserve these buildings? What is their significance in our changing world? And how do we manage their legacies in the present day?