SaveTowerArts

2008-07-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Good

It is a while since my last update on the Tower so it is refreshing to report some good news. The Autumn programme is now out and you can see what’s on by clicking on the link on the left.....

Well done to Ben Ward and Kings’ School for putting this on. The programme looks interesting and quite wide ranging and I look forward to attending as many shows as I can. In future seasons, I hope Ben can also put on some of the popular folk music that made the Tower such a unique venue. This will ensure an even wider programme that compliments the programming at the the Vaults and the Railway Inn.

I can also report some other good news. The County owned Ashcroft Arts Centre in Fareham has been saved after Gosport Borough Council threatened to withdraw its funding to the local Discovery Centre. If only our city council had the same courage to take on their political allies at the County!

The Bad

On a more depressing note - the Tower has yet again been let down by the County Council, this time with the connivance of Winchester City Council. In a decision made two weeks - they have broken a number of commitments that they made in December when the decision to transfer the Tower to the school was made.

At the time the County Council press statement stated that

"The Council is committing £75,000 over the next three year to develop a mixed
evening programme of performing arts at the Tower and other venues across the
City. This will be matched by Winchester City Council.”

County Council leader Ken Thornber added

“The resources we have committed, together with the City Council, will ensure
the continuation of an evening programme focussing initially on the Tower.”

Reasonable people interpreted this to mean £50,000 p.a. funding for three years for mixed evening programming, initially focussed at the Tower. A significant shortfall on previous funding, but at least some recognition of the public outcry.

The deal agreed last week means that the County Council, aided and abetted by the City Council has broken commitments on three grounds(for details of the decision see http://www.winchester.gov.uk/Documents/Committees/Cabinet/1600_1699/CAB1685.pdf,)

1. Both local authorities committed to dialogue with existing Tower users on the development of the evening programme. This has not occurred, the deal has now been approved and the Autumn programme at the Tower has now been released.
2. The deal falls significantly short of the £50,000 p.a. commitment to a mixed evening programme. In fact, it only guarantees £15,000 to evening programming and this will be at the Discovery Centre. A further £15,000 has been committed to the Tower for 2008/9 to fund “public events” and (bizarrely) the promotion and subsidy to Kings’ School of the participatory classes. I say bizarrely because the participatory classes have nothing to do with the evening programmes and it should not need subsidising (it made annual profits in excess of £20,000 p.a. under the previous management!)
3. Less than 50% of the £50,000 funding will go to the Tower – contradicting Councillor Thornber’s commitment of an initial focus at the Tower.

and The Ugly......
I personally feel let down and misled by both local authorities. I find City Council leader Cllr George Beckett’s reported comment on the decision that this is a “good news story” (Chronicle on 10th July) particularly offensive.

2007-12-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

Great Art Centre, Great School, Bad Decision

Councillor Thornber today confirmed the recommendation from the Art and Heritage department

a) That the management of the Tower Arts Centre be transferred from the Recreation & Heritage Department to Kings' School on 21 April 2008.
b) That the property be appropriated from Recreation & Heritage purposes to Children's Services purposes, staying within the County Council.
c) That Hampshire County Council provides £25,000 per year for a minimum of three years, starting in 2008/09, to develop cultural provision and programming at the Tower Arts Centre and other venues in Winchester, including hiring the Tower from Kings' School for evening performances. This is subject to Winchester City Council matching this commitment.

I am very saddened by the decision and my thoughts go out to John Tellet and his great team that have done so much to build up such a successful community art centre. It is testimony to them that they received the greatest support for any public meeting in Winchester for 30 years.

I am very angry about the way that Conservative County Council ignored the people of Winchester and went ahead with this decision. Winchester Conservatives have been totally ineffective in representing the people of Winchester. The only political representation at the deputation today came from the Lib Dems who have been extremely supportive.

Ultimately it was also a vindictive decision. Councillor Thornber retreated from an earlier offer made to use the reduced funding to support the evening programme exclusively at the Tower.

The reduced funding will now be used in a programme that the County's own Art Officer referred to as "not having a huge amount of detail". She defended this by saying there was not enough time to flesh out the detail.

Well, I say that's exactly the point. The Art and Recreation department should have been recommending a deferral of the decision to allow for this to be clarified. Yet again they have displayed a wanton disregard for community art. This is also evidenced by their abject failure to obtain any commitments from Kings School in exchange for the Tower (thats a bit like me giving you my house for no money and letting you do what you like with it).

The points raised within the deputation on behalf of the campaign group by Jan Moring and Alex Hoare were almost totally ignored by Councillor Thornber in his summing up. This has been the pattern throughout the consultation. The points have been ignored because the Council has no anwer to them. I have attached the full text below from Jans deputation below. I have also attached in the links on the left the letter from Alex Hoare and over 30 representatives of the Creative Arts industries to Councillor Thornber.

Martin Tod also spoke in his own right at the deputation. I have also attached this in the link on the left.

Councillor Thornber commented that Winchester is rich in places to see performing arts. As well as the Theatre Royal, he referred to those well frequented performing arts venues of the Great Halll, The Cathedral, St. Swithuns, Peter Symonds College and Winchester College! What chance have we got for reasoned debate when we hear such total hogwash as this!

These parochial views lack the vision that I would expect from our leader. Winchester should be competing with the likes of nearby Salisbury and Chichester where performing arts is really taken seriously. It has exactly the right foundations, with the two Universities that specialise in Art, to create an artistic centre of excellence that could drive the creative industries and generate significant wealth in the area. After all, in the new knowledge economies, the creative industries employ 15% of the workforce and represent the fastest growing sector.

Councillor Thornber concluded by taking issue with my view that this is the end of the Tower as an Arts Centre.

My view is based on the fact that it will be managed by a school. It will not have any professional art management staff, the staffing will be cut from 6 to 2, it will not have a curated programme, it will not have any marketing and it will not have a box office.

Its a bit like saying that a school is still a school after you have removed the teaching staff , transferred the building to the local art centre and torn up the curriculum.

As mentioned before - Theodore Roosevelt said
"Suppose you see a bird walking around in a farm yard. This bird has no label that says 'duck'. But the bird certainly looks like a duck. Also, he goes to the pond and you notice that he swims like a duck. Then he opens his beak and quacks like a duck. Well, by this time you have probably reached the conclusion that the bird is a duck, whether he's wearing a label or not."

I hope that I am wrong and that it does remain as a community arts centre. Councillor Thornber's reputation rests on this.

I, for one, will be watching carefully how the summer programme is put together. If they are serious about it - then we should hear before the end of February what they intend to put on.

The campaign group will consider the option of pursuing maladmistration. We are also thinking of forming an Art for Winchester Action Group to promote a more structured approach to art within Winchester. I would be interested in your views on both of these issues. Please e-mail me at

REPRESENTATION TO D DAY DECEMBER 7TH 2007-12-06

Good afternoon Cllr. Thornber. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today.

I will start by addressing several points from today’s report with which the User group takes issue.

The matter of the building is clearly central, although the Council’s ‘requirement to have no direct responsibility for the fabric of the building’ was only made explicit in the Options Report in October. The true costs of maintaining the building are unclear. We have requested details of the future property costs but this has not been forthcoming. Without sufficient time and a thorough examination of all the factors, supporters have been unable to make counter proposals.

We are pleased that the New Forest Arts Centre is considered to have the potential to operate as an independent organisation but as far as we know, no work has been done to corroborate this claim. The centre has three years to work up a plan but the Tower Arts Centre has been unfairly denied this opportunity.

The ‘Westie’ has also been given a three year reprieve because it is in Aldershot, specifically in Wellington, an economically deprived area. The report ignores the fact that St Luke’s ward, where the Tower is situated is significantly more deprived than Wellington. Average weekly income is £490 as against £620 and 10% of residents claim housing benefit compared with 6%.

The County subsidy to the Tower is £36k lower than the West End and the District subsidy to the Tower is £21k more than the Ashcroft. The report concludes that this is not significant. Any reasonable person would conclude that these are significant numbers relative to the overall County subsidy of £106k.

Elsewhere the report fails to grasp the significance of statistics about the geographical spread of Arts Centre attendees. 92% of the audiences for the Tower come from Hampshire. This compares to 67% for the New Forest and 54% for the West End. Hampshire ratepayers effectively provide a significant subsidy to Dorset and Surrey. The current proposal would mean that the priorities of Surrey and Dorset residents have been put ahead of the Hampshire ratepayers that attend the Tower

Today’s report has misrepresented the User Group by stating that we will only be satisfied by the status quo. This is completely untrue. We have consistently argued for time to develop a new financial model and we are prepared to form a company limited by guarantee to achieve this. We must reiterate categorically that the school option is unacceptable to us as it means the end of the Tower as an Arts Centre.

We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the Council’s lack of response to the overwhelming public support for the Tower. The Public meeting was a triumph for the campaign and has generated unprecedented levels of direct responses.

The County Council commissioned an independently run telephone survey of 500 randomly selected residents of the district. This showed that 70% of respondents want the Tower Arts Centre to remain as it is, the majority (44%) under a new funding model. Only 17% favour the transfer option. However, the report states that the results ‘do not provide a clear pointer in a particular direction.’ This is an outrageous conclusion.

The Discovery Centre is completely irrelevant to the future of the Tower but the report refuses to accept this and misrepresents a statement from the Option Appraisal report. Ms Felton says ‘In my opinion it cannot be a replacement for the Tower performance space’ but this has become ‘The discovery centre is only suitable for some elements of the Tower’s evening programme’.

The proposal to develop new programming for venues across the city needs more work before it can be properly considered. It has an obvious educational bias, an unspecified agenda and would not attempt to replicate the current evening programme which is so valued and appreciated by the public.

Cllr Thornber’s requirement for a business case from King’s school has not been delivered. The report includes an extensive review of current activities and facilities which are unrelated to professional arts provision in Winchester. The change from a predominantly adult focus to children’s educational use is transparent, it can no longer be claimed that the transfer will do anything other than close the Tower as an Arts Centre.

We have put together a plan that could reduce the public subsidy by around £45k. This would be achieved by increased revenue from adult classes and members, new ventures and individual support. We are also aware that the Blue Apple Theatre group has plans to expand. Income from the University Faculty of Arts for professional services could reach as much as £20k annually. It should also be understood that the university is only interested in buying services from a professional arts venue, not an educational establishment.

Local authorities who ask their residents what they want but refuse to act upon their passionately expressed views cannot expect to retain the confidence of their communities. We urge you to reconsider your intention to make a final decision today. Instead, please allow a period of at least one year for further detailed examination of ways to avoid the irreplaceable loss of the Tower as a professional arts centre.

2007-12-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

Is this a Stitch Up ?

The officers of the Recreation and Heritage department published their report on the future of the Tower Arts on Friday. As we all feared and I guess expected, this confirms the original recommendation that they made back in July to transfer the Tower to the school. The report can be found at http://www.hants.gov.uk/decisions/decisions-docs/071207-execpr-R1130104417.html.

The report also recommends that £25,000 per year for a minimum of three years is provided to work with the University of Winchester to deliver a programme of arts development in Winchester. This is on the condition that the City Council commits the same. There is no role in the future for the Tower User Group or the friends of the evening programme.

I am very disappointed with the proposal – it will mark the end of the Tower as an Arts Centre. In my view, the report has been written in a biased way to justify a decision already taken. There are numerous examples where they are selective with the facts – some of these are summarised below.

We now have confirmation in the report that 70% of the people in Winchester District want the Tower to stay as an Arts Centre. Only 17% prefer the option that includes the transfer to the school. The largest public meeting in Winchester for nearly 30 years said the same thing. I hope that Councillor Thornber sees through the flawed report and makes the right decision.

We plan to hold a protest outside of the council offices (by the Hampshire Hog) starting at 2pm on Friday 7th December. We will be making our final deputation to Councillor Thornber at around 2.30pm. The public are welcome to attend this. We really need to have as many protestors as possible at the meeting. This is the final push.

Councillor Thornber originally requested that the County present a business case from Kings’ School. A business case is a structured document that clearly defines the costs and benefits of the proposal. The case put forward in the report falls way short of what a well run business would require before making such a significant decision.

If this goes through the people of Winchester will have been sold down the river.

The campaign group has stayed away from party politics throughout the campaign in the belief that the Conservatives would listen to the overwhelming view of the public.

Phryn Dickens, Martin Tod and others from the Lib Dems have been very supportive but ultimately the Lib Dems are not in power. The only additional funding from the City came from the Lib Dem controlled town forum.

George Beckett and Steve Brine, whilst supportive, appear to have made very little difference and in the end as Conservatives must take responsibility for any decision that is taken.

The proposal that has been made with regard to the programme for art development has been put together in a rush and does not add up. It leaves many unanswered questions including such basic things as how the box office will operate. The school plan is to slash the staffing levels from a headcount of 6 to 2 - any reasonable person can see that there is no real intention to save the Tower as an Arts Centre.

It seems clear that the Tower will now be fragmented between educational establishments and will have little if any community arts provision.

We want the people of Winchester to be listened to and the Tower to be treated equitably with the more expensive Art Centres within Aldershot and the New Forest. It should be given the same three year breathing space that their local Conservatives have managed to negotiate. The Tower supporters have already found £16,000 in pledges to save the Tower - more than any of the other Art Centres.

If you have not done so already - please write to George Beckett at gbeckett@winchester.gov.uk and to Steve Brine at steve@stevebrine.com.

Examples of Bias within the Report

· It tries to rebut the campaigners claim that the Tower is being unfairly treated relative to the other HCC owned Art Centres. It states that the point that we make about the lowest subsidy from HCC to the Tower is insignificant (despite being £35k less than the West End in Aldershot!). It also states that the higher support from the local authority is not markedly different for the Tower compared to the others (despite it being £21k more than the Ashcroft!). These are very significant amounts in the context of the total public subsidy of around £120k.
· It states that the socio-economic considerations are more important in making the judgement – so it refers to the economic deprivation within Aldershot and the New Forest. Amazingly it does not refer at any stage in the report to Stanmore and the excellent connections that the Tower has to this community. The statistics that I have seen suggest that St. Lukes in Winchester is a more deprived area than the wards that the other Art Centres are located in (see http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk).
· It tries to rebut the campaigners claim that the Tower provides a service to Hampshire outside of the District by presenting the relative statistics in a misleading way (see 6.8 in the report). It states that the % of people booking tickets for events at the Tower from the local district councils area are higher than those in two out of three of the other Art Centres. What it conveniently fails to mention is that in both these cases – most of these attendees come from outside of Hampshire i.e. Hampshire ratepayers are subsidising Dorset and Surrey residents! Surely HCC should be looking for some subsidy from these Counties before it closes the Tower. Here are the unadulterated statistics:

Achcroft has 93% attendance from Hampshire (44% attendance from own district, 49% from Hampshire outside own district) and 7% from non hampshire.

New Forest has 67% attendance from Hampshire (65% from own district, 2% from Hampshire outside own district) and a 33% from outside Hampshire - manily Dorset.

West End has 54% attendance from Hampshire (33% from own district, 21% from Hampshire outside own district) and a 46% from outside Hampshire - mainly Surrey.

This compares to the Tower which has 92% attendance from Hampshire (50% from own district, 42% from Hampshire outside own district) and 8% from Non Hampshire.

. It also conveniently fails to mention that the Winchester District population is growing rapidly, whilst the Aldershot District is static and the New Forest is declining.
· In the phone survey, 70% of the people in Winchester District want the Tower to stay as an Arts Centre. However, this is dismissed within the report as not providing a clear pointer in a particular direction.
· The report highlights that the Tower currently operates efficiently within a headcount of 3 full-time and 4 part-time staff plus casual and contract staff to cover cleaning, technical and the bar. It says that there are no opportunities for savings. The School will operate the Tower with one full time and one part time staff plus casual and contract staff to cover cleaning, technical and the bar. Surprisingly, this goes unchallenged.
· The report states that the “Discover Centre is only suitable for some elements of the Tower’s evening programme”. This is misleading – the consultant report states that “In my opinion it cannot be a replacement for the Tower performance space.” This is because it has very limited changing facilities, it has no real back stage or back of house facilities and it is neither decorated, nor acoustically appropriate for live music gigs

These are just some of the glaring issues with the report. We will present more at the deputation on Friday.

2007-11-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

A great turnout for Thursdays celebration of the Tower. This time we managed to get the media to attend in droves - on the link on the left you can see clips from a few of the TV and Radio shows that covered the event.

Particular thanks to Sam Cousins for organising such a great show and to the stars from the Sing Our Hearts Out choir, Blue Apple Theatre Group, the cast from "A Christmas Carol", Henry VIII and "Masked and Mysterious" .......and also to the parents from Stanmore School for showing off those great "Heroes" paintings (thats Henry J. Heinz with the tash - inventor of the ketchup and hero to many school kids!).

After the entertainments, Miles Banister, Christopher Jarman and Jane Jessop spoke at Full Council. The Winchester County Councillors also submitted some written questions.

The County seem as intransigent as ever. Despite giving Art Centres in the New Forest and Aldershot three years to find alternate funding - they seem intent on closing the Tower as an Art Centre. The Tower receives the lowest subsidy from the County and is better supported by the District. In addition to this, in a little over a week, we now have individual pledges totaling £16,000. It is difficult to see what more we can do

None of us can understand why the Conservative County Council are taking such a harsh view of Winchester. In my view - they have totally lost perspective. They constantly refer to underfunding and the need to prioritise spending to adult social care. Yet they can spend a huge amount of money (probably in excess of the entire Tower budget) on the mailshot and marketing for the new Discovery Centre. Lets remember that the Tower requires less than 0.02% of the total HCC budget (actually 17p for every £1,000 spent!).

The decision flies in the face of all reason and treats the people of Winchester with contempt. I am left to wonder whether it is politically motivated........Is it because Aldershot and the New Forest are Conservative dominated?

We already have support from many of the Winchester Conservatives. Ultimately though, support is not enough. I believe that George Beckett (the City Council Leader) and Steve Brine (the Conservative PPC) are now the last hope for the people of Winchester. So, over to you guys......

PS. Tower Arts campaigners have at last received an apology from Councillor Snaith for her misleading statements - see http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/search/display.var.1852144.0.tower_arts_campaigners_gain_apology.php

PPS. Congratulations to Steve & Susie Brine on the birth of their first child. Emily Jane Brine was born on 22 November, weighing 8lb 5oz.

2007-11-18T06:34:00.000-08:00

A Fun, Entertaining, Colorful Media Spectacle: Taking the Tower to the Castle

Following the largest Public Meeting in Winchester in 30 years, SaveTowerArts now plan to celebrate the Tower Arts Centre at Full County Council Meeting at the Castle in Winchester on Thursday 22nd November.

Campaigner John Golley said “We don’t think any of the County Councillors in the cabinet have ever attended the Tower – so we thought we could take the Tower to the Council!”

It promises to be a highly visual and entertaining spectacle. Following his now famous appearance at the Public Meeting, Henry VIII will be making a re-appearance. Jonathan the Jester is expected to add some frivolity to proceedings

Sam Cousins of TAPAS and Blue Apple fame has organised for the “Sing Our Hearts Out” choir to be there. They will be performing a number of songs including Seasons of Love and medleys from Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.

Performance Arts Winchester Resident Director Adam Graham and the cast from “A Christmas Carol” will be performing extracts from their Christmas production. University of Winchester students will also be providing readings from their upcoming production of "Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick" - a tribute to the Carry On films.

The campaigners will be handing out a booklet “A celebration of the Tower” including contributions from Tower users, tutors and performers to demonstrate the broad range of activities enjoyed by the many Tower users.

Parents of children at a local Primary School will be celebrating their magnificent Heroes portraits – produced in conjunction with the Tower.

The notorious campaigners “masked and mysterious” will be there. They promise to reveal there true identities when the Tower is saved

The campaign team will be presenting the 1,200 strong petition requesting that the County Council retain the Tower Arts Centre Winchester in its current form and with the present management and staff for three years whilst a solution to the funding issues is investigated. They will have 10 minutes to present their case to Full Council.

The event starts at 9am Thursday 22nd November at the Council Chamber, Castle Hill, Winchester (opposite the Hampshire Hog statue). The campaigners will be presenting a petition to the Full County Council starting at 10am. Our intention is to have a fun and entertain with a colorful media spectacle which may well be our last chance to lobby the decision makers on the future of one of Winchesters most iconic theatre, arts and music venue’s.

Letters to your County Councillors are key at this stage. Contact details at http://www.writetothem.com/. Don't forget the pledges - there is a link on the left.

2007-11-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

City Council Demand More Time

Lots to tell you about.............. first we have set up a pledge form!

Many of you will recall at the Public meeting the pledge of £1,000 for the rest of his life from one generous supporter. Well - we thought that it was a good idea to give Tower supporters the chance to pledge money, time or services to The Tower on the condition that the Tower is given three years to find more secure funding - the form is on the link on the left. Pledges of any size or description are welcome.

The city council is calling on the county to delay its controversial disposal of the centre to Kings' School.Interesting article in the Daily Echo - see http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/search/display.var.1831043.0.civic_bosses_demand_arts_centre_reprieve.php

Despite all the protests - the County appear to be determined to transfer the Tower to the school even without a business case from them. Councillor Thornber made the presentation of the business case one of the conditions of the consultation period - lets hope he presses for this over the next couple of weeks (see http://www.hants.gov.uk/decisions/decisions-docs/070718-execpr-R0723104816.html for his decision day document). Today - WCC Leader George Beckett went on record to say that he would be very disappointed if a business case was not made available.

I have received a number of letters referring to an Ombudsman review of the process that has been undertaken. My view is that it is premature to go down this line at this stage. The key thing is to keep the pressure up on the County Council in the lead up to full council next week - so please e-mail your local county councillor urgently. I would also include your city councillor and your MP. You can find all your local representatives at an excellent web-site called http://www.writetothem.com/

Inconsistencies from the County Council

In the same decision day document (point 2.1), you can see that the prime justification of the original decision by Councillor Snaith in July was "The opening of the Discovery Centre in November 2007 and the increased programme of community involvement at the Kings' School presents an ideal opportunity to transfer most of the Tower's activities to the Discovery Centre as soon as it opens"

Now that the Felton report has clearly stated that the Discovery Centre is not appropriate for the vast majority of the Tower Programme - Councillor Snaith is now saying that it was never the main driver behind the decision!! There is an interview with Councillor Snaith on Dream FM tomorrow morning where hopefully she will respond to these inconsistencies.

Thats enough for now. More campaingn news soon

2007-11-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Photos from the Public meeting

Official number of attendees to the meeting last week was 450. I am told that this makes this the biggest public meeting in Winchester since the 1970's!!

Despite the huge level of protest, amazingly the County are still saying that the transfer to the School is the preferred option. We simply cannot understand this. The County have recently allowed the West End in Aldershot and the New Forest Arts Centre to continue for three years to allow time to look for additional funding. The Tower gets less subsidy from the County than the Westy and the Forest and receives greater support from the Winchester City Council. Despite all of this - the County Council remain intransigent. This simply does not add up!

'Enry VIII and Miles Banister putting the record straight

Many thanks to local photographer Joe Low for these.

2007-11-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

Reflections on the last Week

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

On Wednesday we formally 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.

Stop Press
Finally and hot off the Press - a new cultural strategy for Hampshire! Your chance to give your views (see http://www3.hants.gov.uk/cultural-strategy-consultation.htm). HCC have invited everyone to give their views on this.

Note the reference on page 8 of the downloadable document to the West End Arts Centre in Aldershot....ring any bells!! A clear case where public pressure really counted. I think you should let them know what you think - as politely as possible

Interestingly - the concepts of goodwill discussed here were exactly the arguments that we presented to Councillor Thornber in July (well maybe not that interestingly!!)

2007-11-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

Great turnout - but was it a Debate or a Debacle ?

Fantastically attended meeting last night - around 500 people turned out to hear about the plans for the Tower. Support for keeping the Tower as it is was overwhelming! Councillor Snaith was told, in no uncertain terms, that the people of Winchester and Hampshire demand the Tower to stay.

It is vital that we keep the momentum up - write e-mails and letters to all the local representatives and to the media!! Remember we have until 7th November to get all of our representations in. E-mail to Nicola Horsey arts.admin@hants.gov.uk I think we should ensure that Councillor Thornber and Councillor Snaith are included on all correspondences to the County Council ken.thornber@hants.gov.uk and margaret.snaith@hants.gov.uk

The transfer to Kings School was seen to be lacking any detail. There are clearly many
more questions than answers - last nights meeting was meant to be to inform the Public - this clearly did not happen.

The eveining was full of the panel evading direct questions and contradicting itself. The incompetence that was shown by Hampshire County Council last night has left everyone in the room dumbfounded. Lets hope that Councillor thornber sees this for what it is and makes the correct decision on December 7th.

In a July Press Release Councillor Snaith 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 Evening Programme. Councillor Snaith amazingly distanced herself from this by denying making the statement in the first place! See the full Press Release at

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/communications/mediacentre/mediareleases.htm?newsid=151959

This was one of many examples of the mixed messages that we are getting from the County.

More soon

2007-10-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Winchester rallies to support the Tower!

Just back from the High Street protest where lots of camaigners turned out to save the Tower.

Great support from the Winchester public - in just over 2 hours we managed to get nearly 700 people to sign the petition to save the Tower.

Good article on the daily Echo web-site (including a nice picture) at tp://www.dailyecho.co.uk/search/display.var.1800995.0.backing_for_campaigners_fighting_to_save_arts_cente.php

3 of the younger protestors added a bit of chutzpah and took to the streets to sing Moira Merryweather's Tower Arts Rap.

County and City Councillors from all parties turned out to campaign. The two main prospective parliamentary candidates also joined forces. Steve Brine and Martin Tod seen here beside Masked and Mysterious - they will only reveal themselves once the Tower is saved.

Is that Councillor Thornber on the left - has someone taken him to the Tower?

Thanks to Kev F. Sutherland from the Beano for this great cartoon

2007-10-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Why you should protest!!

This is a highly successful Art Centre that regularly plays to full houses. To get a feel for all the great things it does - go to http://www.towerarts.co.uk/key-client.html.

It is a unique venue that provides an eclectic range of programming to around 15,000 people a year.

Its success is due to its independence and the way it is managed by John Tellet and his superb team

It operates on the lowest subsidy of any of the Hampshire Art Centres. The £90k subsidy equates to only 80p for each district resident.
Any funding that Kings' School receives related to the transfer will be used for educational purposes. They will not fund any of the existing community art use.
Kings' School have not allowed the public to see it's proposal. It's intentions are very unclear. It talks vaguely about extending the community arts programme but their are no firm commitments.

Winchester is already very poorly served in terms of public spending on the performing arts. It receives around 25% of the public funding in comparable towns like Basingstoke, Salisbury and Chichester. Removing the subsidy to the Tower Arts will exacerbate this problem (see article dated 29th September for more analysis).
In the recent Location, Location, Location programme Winchester came second overall - a great result! However, Winchester came a lowly 95th on Lifestyle - the area that covers Art and Culture!!

An independent consultant has confirmed that the Discovery Centre will not be able to put on the vast majority of the evening performances currently shown at the Tower (this contradicts one of the key assumptions within the original proposal).

There are alternate funding arrangements that could be explored if we had sufficient time.

All of the Winchester County Councillors, all of the local City Councillors and the two main prospective MP's for Winchester support the proposal that more time should be given to explore these options properly.

The County Council originally tried to rush this decision through without any public consultation and without enough consideration of the options. It is only because of the level of protests to date that they have entered into any dialogue. Your voice really counts!!!

To be continued.....

2007-10-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Just come back from the second meeting of the User Groups. This time we met with Caroline Felton the consultant to give our views. There was around 20 people attending and we were supported by Martin Tod - the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems. All of the Users expressed there views about why the Tower is such a valuable asset - the message certainly got home loud and clear!

A lot of different ideas were discussed concerning different approaches that could be taken to funding, the different partnerships that could be looked into and the different ideas on increasing revenue.

The consensus amongst the users was:

that the time available within the consultation is too short to properly explore these options;
the users felt that the narrow terms of reference given to Caroline would restrict her ability to explore the wider context of art in Winchester and Hampshire

Caroline also confirmed that the Discovery Centre will not be able to put on the vast majority of the evening performances currently shown at the Tower. Is it just me - I'm sure this was one of the key assumptions underpinning the original report from the HCC Art Office!

We discussed the date for the public meeting. we expressed our preference as 1st November - I will pass this onto Nicola Horsey

2007-09-29T02:27:00.000-07:00

Performing Art Public Spending League Table

As the Election fever bee buzzes in the ears of the good people of Winchester - I can hear the many local Tower protestors cry out for the latest news on the campaign. So how is Winchester doing in the Performing Art Public Spending League.

Already way down at the bottom of the league and with the threat of removing £115k of the £501k connected to the Tower - Winchester looks as if it will be playing in the Vauxhall Conference Cultural Deprivation League next year. But not if the loyal fans can help it.......

Will there be a knight in shining armour?Well, maybe - let me introduce Caroline Felton. Caroline has been appointed by Winchester City Council to perform an options appraisal for the Tower (I hear that Jose Mourinho was interviewed - but Caroline won through!). We have a chance to meet her on Monday 1st October at 7.30pm at the Tower (sorry for the short notice - it would be great to see you there). She is very interested in hearing the views of the Tower users - what makes it such a special place? This is our chance to give the Tower the praise it so richly deserves. If you can't come on Monday - please send me any comments so that I can pass them on (e-mail address is alistairwmarsden@yahoo.co.uk)

The public meeting at the Guildhall will be either 1st or 7th of November - more on this as soon as I hear.

I have asked our elected respresentatives at Winchester City and Hampshire County Council for their views on these damning figures. I'll feedback their views to you all.

A more detailed analysis of art spending can be found at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pjpM3brf3pl1emqjBG_BeXg

The current HCC Art Strategy document is at http://www3.hants.gov.uk/arts-strategy.pdf

2007-09-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

I've just come direct from a great meeting at the Tower with Nicola Horsley - Head of Arts, Tourism and Marketing at the County Council. We had 8 people representing the different user groups at the Tower. Steve Brine (Conservative PPC for Winchester) also attended to give support.

What a difference!!! The approach was worlds apart from the "consultation" in the lead up to the June decision. Nicola was very open and listened to the views from the Tower Users.

We saw for the first time the proposed brief for the Consultant on the options appraisal. Clearly a lot of thought had been put into the brief. All the users and Steve Brine raised a concern that the terms of reference were to narrow - they are focussed exclusively on the options for the future management of the Tower. Our understanding was that Councillor Thornbers intentions were to look at the Tower within the wider context of Winchester and Hampshire with the aim of informing a sensible debate about the future of Arts provision within the area. We expressed our view that the terms of reference should take a more strategic review of arts provision - including options for partnership between the Discovery Centre and the Theatre Royal.

We also felt that the terms of reference should specifically look at successful models operating within other authorities (e.g. Basingstoke and Reading).

Nicola will consider both of these suggestions.

The Consultant will be working to a very tight in terms of timescale - appointment of consultant by 21 September, the interim report to be published in mid October - with a public meeting in early November.

With this short timescale in mind - I would strongly encourage you to write again to your local representatives to give your views so that they can be taken into account within the consultation (see Blog entry for 24th June to get contacts). I would cc Nicola at nicola.horsey@hants.gov.uk and Marilyn Michalowicz (at MMichalowicz@WINCHESTER.GOV.UK) Marilyn is the Winchester City Council Arts Development Officer. Letters to the press would also keep us in the news at this crucial time.

We plan to have another meeting on Monday 1st October. Please let me or Lynda Bannister know if you are able to attend.

Finally........ see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVr0mWf-bV8 to hear what the late, great Dinah Washington has to say about it all.

2007-09-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Meeting tomorrow at the Tower!!!

The petition has now broken 1,100 and is still going strong.

Councillor Thornber last week confirmed the decision to go to proper consultation and to extend the Tower for a minimum of one more season. More details at http://www.hants.gov.uk/decisions/decisions-docs/070913-execpr-R0906125116.html

An initial meeting with Nicola Horsey of the County Council will take place tomorrow , Monday 17th September at the Tower at 7.30pm. Nicola will explain the consultation process that is planned and will be there to answer any questions that we have. It would be great to see as many campaigners as possible there!

I will be asking the following tomorrow:

Can we review and give input to the terms of reference of the the options appraisal.
Can we review and give input to the questions used in the telephone survey.
More details on how the Tower users will be consulted with.

We are in the process of trying to form a working group. There are a couple of areas where we are short on representation. Please let me know if you are interested - or know anyone that is interested - especially in the following:

TAPAS - organisers and/or parents of children that attend
Attendees and/or organiser of the Half Term workshops
Performers or agents

Some great shows coming up in the next couple of weeks - Average Blues Band, Magical History Tour, Swarbrick and Carthy and the extremely funny Mundo Jazz. Hope to see you there.....

2007-09-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ring those Bells - The Tower can continue booking until the Spring 2008 !!!!!

Some good news. HCC have effectively reversed the decision made by Councillor Snaith in July to transfer the Tower to Kings' School. They have allowed the Tower to continue bookings until Spring 2008 and pushed the decision up to the Council Leader - Ken Thornber. The decision will be made on 7th December. It will at last be subject to a detailed consultation because HCC have also promised to carry out a proper investigation of all the options -including a wide consultation. This is clearly great news and what we have asked for all along.

This is thanks to all the campaigners and to the local Lib Dem Councillors (Phyrn Dickens, Alexis Fall and many others - too many to mention by name) and to James Stephens the local Conservative City Councillor. They have all been superb. The support from the two main prospective parliamentary candidates - Martin Tod (Lib Dem) and Steve Brine (Conservatives) has been invaluable. It is clear that this has been a campaign that has been fought by people from all political spectrums.

The staff at the Tower have been through a pretty tough time over the last few months with all the uncertainty. They all do a great job - often under very trying conditions!!! They will be really busy over the next few weeks putting the Spring Programme together - again with the Sword of Damocles hanging over them! If anyone can put a Programme together in such a short time and in the face of adversity - it's our man John and his team.

It's really important that we increase the awareness of the Tower and fill the house for the upcoming Programme. The Tower does not have a lot of resources to allocate to marketing - so lets spread the news informally. Let all your friends, work colleagues and family know what a great venue it is. You could e-mail the link to the Tower web-site to all your local contacts http://www.towerarts.co.uk/. There are some great things coming up. Ask anyone at the Tower or any of the campaigners how else you can help

The full details of the consultation are at http://www3.hants.gov.uk/communications/mediacentre/mediareleases.htm?newsid=167465&stDate. It promises consultation with a Tower Users working group, a review by a consultant to look at options for a sustainable future and a survey of Winchester residents by a research agency. Very different from the (lack of) consultation carried out in the lead up to the decision by Councillor Snaith in early July.

I hope that all the stakeholders can draw a line under what has happened in the lead up to the previous decision. Let's move forward and do the right thing for the people of Winchester and Hampshire.

2007-08-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Let the Summer last for one more week!!

As the memories of sand, sea and sangria drift away and we return to the rain, routine and rigmarole of our everyday lives........thoughts return to the battle to Save the Tower. So whats happened.....

The petition is now at 1059 !!! This is way beyond my expectations and it is still growing rapidly through the summer lull. A lot of performers like Fairport Convention, Paul Jones, Swarbrick and Carthy have signed up (see attached link for a full list). Keep spreading the news.....
If you recall at the meeting in mid-July Councillor Thornber deferred the decision to 13th September to allow for a wider consultation with users and staff, to allow Kings' School to put a proper business case together so that he could get assurances that community arts would not be eroded and to ensure that the view of HAT had been taken into account.
I am not aware of any progress on any of these points. The long awaited consultation with the users has certainly not happened. My understanding is that the officers of HCC will ask Councillor Thornber for a deferral to October 19th to allow this consultation to take place.
I have done some digging around alternate funding arrangements. There are some interesting options that would be worth pursuing if we are given a reasonable amount of time to pursue.
I have also researched into a number of ways of generating more revenue or reducing costs. There are a number of promising options including increasing the partnership with Kings to increase usage and/or partnering with the Discovery Centre and maybe even the Theatre Royal to reduce running costs. This last option is used very successfully by the Anvil/Haymarket and Forge in Basingstoke.
Over the next few days - Lynda Bannister will be meeting representatives from HCC to get an update from them.
I hope to meet up with members of the HAT committee over the next couple of weeks to discuss these options. I really belive there is a deal to be done that can meet everyones needs - so fingers crossed.
We are hoping to form a small action group to share some of the work on the campaign. If you have some time to dedicate to this - please let me know.

In the meantime - keep up with the protesting. It really is making a difference

TTFN

Alistair

2007-07-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Tower to the People!!!!!

So.....how should we continue the campaign?

Much of the onus is now on Kings' School and the Council to consult with the public over the next six weeks or so and to put more detail into their proposals. Councillor Thornber has promised consultation with the user groups - so we should hear something soon. This should give us the opportunity to voice our opinion............

So in the meantime - what can we do to keep the momentum up...................

We need to keep the story in the media - so please write to them to give your views. It is very simple to submit a letter to the Chronicle at http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/letter/ - it would be great to get some in this weeks Chronicle (deadline Wednesday Noon).

We also need to keep writing to local elected representatives - especially Ken Thornber (Leader of County Council) at ken.thornber@hants.gov.uk, George Beckett (Leader of City Council) at gbeckett@winchester.gov.uk. I would copy Phyrnette Dickens on any e-mails that you send phrynette.dickens@hants.gov.uk . You could give your views on the latest developments. Are you happy that the Tower has not been allowed to continue the bookings? It would only cost just over £20k to keep it going for another 3 months ..... thats around 20p for each resident in the Winchester district!

The two leading candidates for the next MP of Winchester (Lib Dem Martin Tod and Conservative Steve Brine) both believe that the decision should be deferred. Continue to write to them to lobby support. martin@martintod.org.uk and http://www.stevebrine.com/record.jsp?type=requiredPage&ID=23&contact=contact. The Lib Dems are highly visible with their opposition. We would rather this did not go down party lines - so lets push Steve Brine in particular for more visible support

Keep spreading the word on the petition.... up to 961 at the last count

Realistically - we will not be able to investigate alternative funding before 13th September. I was thinking it maybe a good idea to present a plan for how we would go about securing alternative funding if we were given more time. Does anyone know people that have organised fund-raising that could point us in the right direction?

Finally- a Lib-Dem video of the protest at http://obbfcouncillor.blogspot.com/2007/07/save-tower-demo-now-on-videoand-stay-of.html.

2007-07-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Decision deferred until 13th September......

A great turn-out to support the deputation, over 30 people at short notice on a week day at 10am is pretty impressive. Many also attended the deputation - HCC had to move to a bigger room to accomodate us all! Thanks to all of you for your support.

Phrynette Dickens presented her objections - focusing on the absence of any public consultation and the fact that the HAT recommendations and the Arts Review Panel findings had been ignored. I presented my objections on a number of grounds - focusing on the lack of time to find alternative funding, the lack of a credible business case from Kings and the lack of due diligence in the process.

Councillor Thornbers concluded by raising some concerns:

We need to allay fears of staff by a broader consultation

He accepted the point on the business case and wanted to seek assurances that community art activities will no be eroded under Kings'

He was concerned that the view of HAT had not been taken into account

He wanted more public visibility including meetings with user groups

He did not see due diligence as an issue – he saw the property as the asset rather than the intangible asset linked to the reputation of the Tower Arts

There was some encouraging signs at this point - until he wound up by saying that he would defer the decision until 13th September to address these issues. He did not see school holidays as a problem – as he worked through August!

Overall I am disappointed. I feel that we have brought some more time but nowhere near enough time to properly investigate alternate funding. I am pleased that Kings' have been requested to submit a business case for how they intend to meet there commitments and that HAT and the User Groups will be consulted with (albeit that a lot of the programmes have come to an end for the summer!!).

We have come a long way in the 5 weeks .....I'm sure we can make a lot of difference in 6 weeks

Gotta go now - but will update later on the next steps

2007-07-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Protest at 9.15am on Wednesday 18th July at the County Council Offices

I have just been informed that on 18th July - Ken Thornber (Leader of the County Council) has a decision day that will consider the transfer of the Tower Arts Centre to Kings' School. Time is running out to save the Tower - so we really need to mobilise as a campaign team.

Can we spread the word that there will be a protest at 9.15am on Wednesday 18th July by the Pig by the front entrance to the Hampshire County Council offices in Winchester. Please bring placards, banners etc. Easy parking at the Tower Street Car Park. We will try to organise for the press to be there - so we need as many protesters as possible. Can you keep in touch - I need to know that there are a reasonable number before we get the press involved. If anyone wants any more details - please e-mail at alistairwmarsden@yahoo.co.uk

I also understand that there is an opportunity for the public to make a formal deputation. I will follow up on this tomorrow and let you all know.

Major coverage in the Hampshire Chronicle on the front page, in the letters and in the editorial........................ http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1537411.0.kings_not_able_to_fund_tower_to_previous_levels.php
I am also trying to find out more from Kings School what there plans are.... I'm waiting for Mrs. Lawrence the Headmistress to contact me

2007-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Raise your concerns with the Media
The majority of the public will not be aware of the decision referred to below because it missed the cut off for the Hampshire Chronicle. For those that are aware I would strongly encourage you to write to the media. I have done some digging around for some contacts

To write a letter to the chronicle go to http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/letter/
To add a comment on the web-site go to http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/display.var.1524029.0.tower_arts_centre_to_pass_to_school.php
I have tried to get hold of BBC South Today without any luck - maybe you could try martin.webster@bbc.co.uk or call them on 02380 226201
Write in to Radio 4 pm programme at pm@bbc.co.uk
Any other media that you can think of (Meridian News, Win FM, Radio Solent etc.)

2007-07-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

Heavy Hearts and Angry Souls...but the battle is not over

It is with a heavy heart and an angry soul that I have to let you know that today Margaret Snaith the Conservative County Councillor has agreed to all the recommendations within the report and that the Tower Arts Centre will transfer to Kings' School. Lynda Bannister led a deputation that presented an excellent case for deferring the decision. A number of County and City Councillors also spoke out against the decision. The general feeling from all objectors was that the decision had already been made.

The Heavy Heart is because of the sense of loss - the Tower Art Centre is a fantastic asset for all of us in Hampshire. My heart reaches out to John Tellet, Anita, Adam, Jo and all the other staff who have worked hard to make the Tower Arts the inspirational place that it is. With the talents that these people have - I am sure they will have future success.

The Angry Soul is because of the way that the Conservative County Councillors have behaved. Up until four weeks ago - the public were not aware of what was happening. Since the leak, the County Council has tried to allay fears. Just three weeks ago Margaret Snaith said that these were "early days" in the decision. We got similar messages a couple of weeks ago from the Conservative County Council Leader Ken Thornber who said they were only at the "preliminary discussion" stage.

The report on which the decision has been based leaves many unanswered questions and in my view lacks the due diligence required to support such a key decision. It has been made without due consideration or sufficient consultation. On these grounds - I believe that the decision maybe negligent and I will be investigating whether there is sufficient grounds for pursuing this line.

In the three weeks since the petition started we have over 700 signatories - quite some achievement in such a short time. Please continue to spread the word and keep up the pressure. With this level of support - I feel confident that we can make a difference!

Finally, despite my reservations about their abitity to manage an Arts Centre - I genuinely hope that Kings' School make a decent fist of it. They have taken on an onerous responsibility and I hope they dedicate the appropriate level of skills and resources to ensure that this community asset is preserved.

2007-07-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

2 days to get those protests in..........

Petition is up to 565. This is a significant increase during the weekend ....

Excellent web links to Richard Williams Blog at http://www.myspace.com/savethetower
and to Rose Archer's Save Tower Arts Facebook site (now 150 members) at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2389817950

Some of you may have received a response from the County Councillors emphasing the Tower was not closing and implying that the press are blowing it out of proportion. I guess you will all have to make up your minds on this - but some relevant facts:

The proposal is to transfer the management of the Arts Centre from the current Artistic Director to the Kings School management team under the Headmistress
The centre will move from the Recreation and Heritage Department of the County Council to the Children and Families Department. All the other Arts Centres in Hampshire are run within the Recreation and Heritage Department.
The Tower would no longer stage the evening performances that most normal Art Centres stage and for which the Tower is renowned
None of us would even know that a decision on the future of the Tower Arts Centre was under discussion this week if it was not for the leak and the subsequent press coverage
You can read the press reports on the Hampshire Chronicle web-site and make up your own mind whether the reporting is fair. I have summarised the story line below.

As Theodore Roosevelt said

"Suppose you see a bird walking around in a farm yard. This bird has no label that says 'duck'. But the bird certainly looks like a duck. Also, he goes to the pond and you notice that he swims like a duck. Then he opens his beak and quacks like a duck. Well, by this time you have probably reached the conclusion that the bird is a duck, whether he's wearing a label or not."

Story as presented in the Hampshire Chronicle

Leak on 7th June http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/search/display.var.1454755.0.fears_at_arts_centre_future.php.

It ws then revealed that the Tower had been instructed to not take any more bookings on 13th June http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/search/display.var.1469260.0.tower_friends_rally_over_closure_threat.php.
There have been follow up stories on 22nd June on http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/search/display.var.1488768.0.campaigners_bid_to_save_arts_centre.php

Then on the 27th there was news of a separate proposal to close anumber of Art Centres http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/search/display.var.1502206.0.clash_over_arts_centres_closure_plan.php

The demonstration at the Tower Arts was covered on http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/search/display.var.1502421.0.stage_front_for_tower_protesters.php

2007-06-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

4 days to D day

This Thursday is the big day - so we need a big final push.

Margaret Snaith (Executive Member of the County Council for Recreation and Heritage) will consider a recommendation from County Council Officers to transfer the operation of the Tower Arts Centre into Kings Schools. This would mean the end of most of the activities at the Tower from that date.

The County Council have finally agreed to make the recommendation public - see http://www.hants.gov.uk/decisions/decisions-docs/070705-exerec-R0628100242.html Personalised repsonses to this report are best - but if you do not have enough time I have added a template forwithin the links on the left.

Good luck to Lynda Bannister who is co-ordinating a deputation to attend the meeting to raise objections to the recommendations.

We have all done a tremendous job making the public aware of the proposals. In the couple of weeks since it was leaked to the press - we have managed to get 478 signatories on the E-petition. There are still a lot of people including members and occassional attendees that are not aware of what is going on - so we need to keep spreading the news!

Encourage people young and old to sign the e-petition (its open to all citizens or residents including children). Write to Margaret Snaith margaret.snaith@hants.gov.uk to give her your views of the proposal. There is a template in the link to the left. I have added a template in response to the report issued last week.

2007-06-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

So what has the Tower Arts Centre ever done for us.....

Remember the - "so what have the Romans ever done for us sketch" from some film about a guy called Brian - well replace Romans with Tower Arts Centre and then read http://www.towerarts.co.uk/key-client.html.

Big Article on front page of Hampshire Chronicle see http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/

Fingers crossed for no rain at weekend. We will be using the Hat Fair to keep spreading the message. Meet at the Buttercross at 10am or 2pm Saturday - or do you own thing. Flyers to be handed out can be downloaded by clicking on the link on the left. Take a placard, banner or anything else that you think will get the right kind of attention. We want to keep to the spirit of the Hat Fair - so feel free to wear a whacky hat. See http://www.hatfair.co.uk/ for more details

Petition stands at 431. That puts us 401st out of 7847 petitions (and rising) see http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveTowerArts/

130 members of Save Tower Arts on Facebook see http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2389817950 You will need to register to join up

Great support for the campaign last night from Paul Jones and Dave Kelly (another sell out show)

"They just don't understand what skill is needed to make a place like this work......"

We really need to push the letters to the media, to local representatives and to celebrities etc. - see the Opening Message below for all the contacts. Some additional contacts suggested by Alexis Fall are

George Beckett -Leader of Winchester CityCouncil gbeckett@winchester.gov.uk

Patricia Stallard- Portfolio Holder - Culture & Sport.pstallard@winchester.gov.uk

Simon Eden - Cheif exec Winchester City Council corporatemanagement@winchester.gov.uk

Steve Tilbury - Steve Tilbury, Director of Community Services at Winchester County Council.corporatemanagement@winchester.gov.uk

If you have a couple of minutes try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrO0TttczJc&mode=related&searchto to catch a video of our last campaign meeting!

2007-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Opening Message

The Tower Arts Centre in Winchester has been providing a wide canvas of music, theatre, art and comedy since 1969. The 180-capacity venue has hosted many performers who went on to become stars. It also hosts many established performers from the Folk, Blues and Jazz world. It has a special emphasis on education – with many art and drama classes for the young to the old. It has very strong links with the schools in the area.

Since 1969, it has gone from strength to strength, mainly under the innovative guidance of the Director John Tellett. Most of the events are sold out. It is highly successful because of the way it is managed and because of its unique atmosphere. Find out more at http://www.towerarts.co.uk/

Despite this proven success, there are proposals from the County Council to fragment the services offered at the Tower by transferring control of the building from the County Council to the adjacent large secondary school and utilising a new city centre venue. This will put at risk the unique atmosphere of this listed former water tower which is highly valued by audiences and artists alike.The public only became aware of the threats via a leak to the press a couple of weeks ago. The initial reaction from the people that use the Tower is one of total shock – how can the County Council contemplate dismantling such a successful and innovative place?

Last week the public were made aware that the County Council had stopped the Tower from making any bookings after Christmas 2007. It is not clear how long this embargo has been in place – but what we do know is that it is already severely restricting their ability to attract the more popular shows for the Spring 2008 programme. The quotes from the County Council refer to “early days” (Margaret Snaith – Cabinet Member responsible) and “preliminary discussions” (Ken Thornber – Leader of Hampshire County Council). If this is the case – then it seems strange that the County Council have stopped the Centre from taking bookings.

The impression that is given is that the decision has already been made. Our understanding is that Margaret Snaith intends to formally consider the decision on 5th July. At this stage we are not aware of any public consultation that has taken place. Urgent action is now required if we want to influence the decision. The whole essence of the place is its independence - it should be treasured not dismantled. Please help us preseve this unique venue.

So how can you help?

Sign the e-petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveTowerArts/#detail.

It only takes a couple of minutes to sign up and it’s open to all UK citizens and residents including children.
The aim is to get as many to sign up as possible so please circulate to all of your friends and relations throughout the land. Forwarding on the attached e-mail is the best way to reach a lot of people very quickly.

Sending letters or e-mails to your elected representatives is even more effective than signing the petition.

The most important person to contact is the decision maker – Margaret Snaith (Executive Member of Hampshire County Council for Recreation and Heritage). Her e-mail address is margaret.snaith@hants.gov.uk. Send a copy of your letter or e-mail to Ken Thornber – the Leader of Hampshire County Council at ken.thornber@hants.gov.uk
You might also consider writing to the local MP (Mark Oaten for Winchester at oatenm@parliament.uk. You can also look him up on his web-site http://www.markoaten.com/
Winchester City Councillors are well worth contacting – especially the ones representing you in your parish. The three in St. Lukes, the parish where the Tower Arts Centre is located, are Alexis Fall at afall@winchester.gov.uk, Ernest Nunn at enunn@winchester.gov.uk, James Stephens at jstephens@winchester.gov.uk
Full details of all Winchester City Councillors can be found at http://www.winchester.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemocracy/ElectedRepresentatives/CityCouncillors/
Full details of all Hampshire County Councillors can be found at http://www3.hants.gov.uk/yourcountycouncillors/findyourcouncillor.htm
The Mayor of Winchester can be contacted at mailto:Mayor
I have added a proposed draft letter for Margaret Snaith at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d2tbctx_0f6tc4v The idea is this can be sent or cut and paste into an e-mail. Feel free to use this if time is short! I have kept this pretty general – so please add your own personal details
I have also added a proposed letter for Winchester City Councillors at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d2tbctx_1fzn4ps

Contact the media. We only know about the threats to the Tower Arts because of a leak to the press a couple of weeks ago. Because a decision is imminent - we need to get the message out to as wide an audience as quickly as possible. You can do this in many different ways:

Write a letter to the local paper http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/letter/. Sorry - I have not got the details of the other papers
Post comments on media web-sites e.g. Hampshire Chronicle allows comments on news stories - see http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1488768.0.campaigners_bid_to_save_arts_centre.phpCall the News desks
Drop Paul Jones an e-mail at his Radio 2 show at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/jones/contact.shtml
I have not made any contact with the local TV channels - so a volunteer to do this would be great.

Contact celebrities that have a connection with Winchester – especially if you personally know them. Go to their web-sites and send them a message. It maybe worth contacting performers that have appeared at the Tower Arts (Eddie Izzard, George Melly, Nicholas Parsons, Paul Jones etc.) There are also strong links with Fairport Convention, the Albion Band and Show of Hands. Another approach could be to contact celebrities that have a connection with Winchester (Jack Dee, Andy Burrows from Razorlight etc.). Anyone know of any other?

Word of mouth. This is very powerful – talk to as many people as possible about what is going on. The more letters and petition signers the better. We will be using the Hat Fair next week to spread the news. Some of the protesters will be meeting at 10am and then again at 2pm on Saturday at the Buttercross - so take banners, sandwich boards, silly hats etc. I will keep you posted on any other plans.