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.