Reflections on the last Week

It was a roller-coaster week for the SaveTowerArts campaign.

On Wednesday I presented a petition to Winchester City Council for urgent funding to allow for a more strategic review. Over 1,000 signatures were collected in 7 days! This was positively received by George Beckett, the City Council Leader, who vouched to “leave no stone unturned” in looking for a solution that met all the stakeholders requirements.

On Thursday around 500 people flocked to the Guildhall for the long awaited Public Meeting. The crowd listened patiently to County Councillor Snaith and the consultant’s presentation of the options appraisal. The crowd then burst into spontaneous and rapturous applause when Miles Banister gave a formal response from the SaveTowerArts campaign team.

The evening was full of the panel evading direct questions and contradicting itself. The incompetence that was shown by Hampshire County Council last night left everyone in the room dumbfounded – “like a car crash in slow motion” was one persons’ assessment. My view was that it was more of a debacle than a debate.

The view held by the campaign team is that Councillor Snaith has misled the members of the public that attended this meeting. In a July Press she said that "the extensive programme of arts currently provided at the Tower Arts Centre in Winchester will continue under the management of neighbouring Kings’ School and as a key part of the exciting Discovery Centre development in the city"The Consultants report clearly states that Kings school is not interested in, and that the Discovery Centre is not appropriate for, the current Evening Programme. When pressed on this - Councillor Snaith amazingly distanced herself from her original statement by denying making the statement in the first place!

Alarmingly, Councillor Snaith also seemed blissfully unaware that Kings’ School had given Hampshire County Council an ultimatum to decide by 7th December or they would pull out.

The campaign team’s position continues to be to press for a reasonable amount of time to explore a partnership of funders and stakeholders so that it can deliver a full range of daytime and evening activities. The Kings’ School option is aspirational and lacks detail. The County would be in dereliction of its duties to the ratepayers if this decision was to go through on this basis.
A show of hands at the end of the meeting confirmed that the continuation of the Tower in its current form had overwhelming support.
The Leader of the County Council, Ken Thornber, has previously given assurances that this is a proper consultation process. The campaign group does not agree – they believe that the decision has already been made.