Monday 28 May 2012

Save Kidderminster Library Gallery

The campaign to save Kidderminster library Gallery is a coming together of the community in Kidderminster and Wyre Forest to defend the ONLY custom built Gallery and performance space we have got in the district.
The Gallery space was created in 1996 with funding from an Arts Council/National Lottery grant of £326,583. It combines an art gallery with a proper acoustically engineered performance space and the necessary humidity and temperature controls for the grand piano housed there.
Worcestershire County Council want to throw all of this away so they can turn it into offices and cram 139 social care staff in there. This decision was made back in the middle of 2011 but they never intended to properly consult with anyone over it. This is clear from their own documents, their ‘under the radar’ planning application, and the lack of meaningful engagement with either the public or their own staff. It is only after complaints from the public, communities, and unions that they made any attempt to consult, but based it on an exercise designed to give the illusion of ‘consultation’.
If the Gallery is lost, it can never be replaced. These may be tough economic times but there are other alternatives available to the council and we believe this cynical move is being made by a council who appear to be dominated by those who know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.


The Purpose of the Campaign is to:
• Further raise public awareness of the proposals through the media
• Support and coordinate the wider protest movement
• Befriend the Gallery and act in its best interests
• Object to the change of use proposal as part of the planning process
• Mobilise public protests and demonstrations in support of the Library/Gallery
• Support Wyre Forest District Council's Kidderminster Town Plan and the value placed upon cultural spaces within it
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION
Sign up to the Campaign
Contact your County Councillor and make your feelings known
Attend the Planning Committee Meeting on 10th July at County Hall
Write to the Shuttle, Express & Star, and other newspapers
Spread the word: “Save the Gallery!”
CONTACT US:
email: savekidderminstergallery@hotmail.co.uk
Write: ‘Save Kidderminster Library Gallery Campaign’
c/o UNISON Office, FREEPOST, NATW1159, Worcester, WR1 3BR

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