Author Topic: Everything to do with Conwy  (Read 625891 times)

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Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #90 on: November 08, 2010, 10:19:54 am »
The Minutes of the first Public Meeting are now online:
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B8U-40vj3V21YjFiN2E1NWUtMzgzYy00NTJiLWIzZDAtMzYzNTZkODQ0ZjA5&hl=en

Llew Groom opened the meeting by reading out the letter from the Conwy County Borough
Council, which had been sent to organisations renting the Civic Hall. He said that he suspected
that this was not just a cost cutting exercise, but that there may be a hidden agenda, e.g.
commercial development, or something similar.

Mr. Groom explained the past efforts of CCHUG to negotiate the retention of the Civic Hall,
which dated back the best part of ten years. He also explained that at one time CCHUG had
become a Limited Company in order to be able to take on a lease of the Civic Hall, and to run
it, thus relieving the Council of the burden.

Mr. Groom further said that although CCHUG had been formed as a negotiating body on behalf
of the Users of the Hall, the Council had not had the courtesy to inform CCHUG of the closure
decision.

Mr. Groom explained that he would not be continuing to Chair CCHUG, as he felt that after this
amount of time, a new team should take over the role of pressing the Council to keep the Hall
open, and he also said that his age now precluded his involvement in the kind of activity that
was called for. For similar reasons he explained that the present Secretary, John Willis, also
intended to step down.

Mr. Groom then introduced Geoffrey Skelhorn, Chairman of the Civic Hall Amateur Players,
(CHAPS), who were one of the main users of the Hall.

Geoffrey Skelhorn

Mr. Skelhorn emphasised the variety of uses, and users of the Civic Hall, and its importance to
the local community. He pointed out that although the Council had referred to alternative
venues in their letter, their were no other venues offering the facilities provided by the Civic
Hall. Such facilities as separate dressing rooms were for example not available in local Church
Halls, nor was proper lighting and sound equipment available, nor the excellent seating. The
rents at venues such as the Colwyn Bay Theatre, (Theatr Colwyn), and ‘Venue Cymru’ put them
beyond the financial resources of the majority of users of the Conwy Civic Hall. It was
therefore difficult to see what venues the Council had in mind when suggesting they would try
to find alternative venues for the Civic Hall Users.

Indeed Mr. Skelhorn pointed out that some groups had turned from such venues as the Theatr
Colwyn, since they had found them to be beyond their financial resources.

The rents at the Civic Hall were very low, and indeed, in spite of saying that rents would be
increased, the Council had made no effort to do this, and the last increase dated from 1984,
this circumstance contributing to the losses incurred by the Council over the Civic Hall. Whilst
this was very nice for Users, they had nevertheless prepared themselves to pay more, and

indeed, had the Council put some increases in place, the Civic Hall might not be facing the
problems that it was.

Mr. Skelhorn mentioned that according to the minutes of a Council Cabinet sub Committee,
there had been a lock out agreement of six months made with a single developer. Presumably
this meant that this Developer would have a preferential opportunity when decisions came to
be made finally about the Civic Hall.

Mark Robinson from the audience commented that had the Council made an exclusive
agreement with a Developer, there should be an opportunity for this matter to be discussed.
Mr. Skelhorn continued that he would like to see the Community have an opportunity to have a
say in the fate of what was their community facility.

Sian Lewis, from the audience asked why there had been no consultation over this major
decision, and Councillor Mrs. Vicki McDonald, The Mayor of Conwy, said that even the Conwy
Town Council had not been told about this decision, nor consulted in any way. There was she
felt some sort of money making scheme behind this decision.

Mark Robinson from the audience enquired whether it would be possible to find out what the
‘lock out’ involves? Dennis Gannon enquired whether the Building was a listed one, and Llew
Groom replied that only the Façade is listed.

An enquiry as to the ownership of the Civic Hall, elicited the response from Llew Groom that
initially it was owned by Conwy Town, but when this was absorbed into Aberconwy the
ownership of the Hall went to them, and then subsequently to the Conwy CBC.

Tony Franks, from the Audience commented that were the Hall to close and stand empty it
would deteriorate, and were that to happen it could then legitimately be pulled down.

Sian Lewis asked if the Caretaking Staff had been spoken to, and was the projected saving
mentioned in the Council’s letter, of £20,000 an accurate one.

Garry Rees, from the audience, and who cleans the Civic Hall, said that some Councillors had
looked round the Building, but apparently hadn’t been able to find an excuse to demolish the
Building. He also remarked that no marketing had been done for the Civic Hall.

The Mayor of Conwy, Councillor Mrs. Vicki McDonald, remarked that The Conwy CBC had
produced a glossy brochure about the various Civic Halls in their area of control, but had failed
to mention the Conwy Civic Hall at all.

Geoff Skelhorn said that obviously the Civic Hall needed to be marketed, but that the Council
had failed completely to do this.

Mark Robinson said that any theatre’s future depended on marketing, and he asked what was
being charged, and in the light of this, how much extra would need to be charged to cover the
£20,000 figure that the Council hoped to save by the Building’s closure.

Chris Lloyd of the Pink Ffloyd Band said his band played at the Civic Hall and liked it, and hoped
to come again in January, and he observed that the Hall needs promoting. He went on to say
that the Hall was an excellent location, but was let too cheaply by the Council., He stated that

the Wrexham Hall charged £300 for a letting compared to £60 for the Conwy Civic Hall. The
charge should he considered be at least three times the £60 charged.

Dennis Gannon agreed that the charges were too low, and said in his view the Council had
been somewhat incompetent over this issue. He said that grant money should be available.

John Willis said that in the past CCHUG had tried to obtain grant funding, but because the
Council owned the Building, CCHUG was not an owner, nor did they have a lease, although they
had tried to get the Council to lease the Hall to them. Without ownership or a lease CCHUG
could not get a grant, and as a local authority, Conwy CBC was not eligible for grant funding for
the Civic Hall.

The Mayor of Conwy, Councillor Mrs. Vicki McDonald said that the Royal Cambrian Academy
were situated in a Conwy CBC owned Building, and paid only a peppercorn rent for it. It should
be possible therefore for something to be arranged.

Sarah Allerdice, of Conwy Town Council said she felt that it was necessary to make a fresh
start, and attempt to get the Conwy CBC to think again, and possibly a way could be found of
operating the Civic Hall, so as to keep it open.

Mark Robinson believed that a ‘financial test’ might not support the Building just as a Theatre,
but asked the Mayor of Conwy, if Conwy Town Council could articulate to Conwy CBC the
importance of the Civic Hall to the people of Conwy, and the area surrounding.

Anne Penketh, from the audience said that she felt it was important that an approach be made
to the Council, prior to the end of the ‘lock out’, and pointed out that already some time had
passed since the beginning of the ‘lock out’ and there was a need for expedition.

David Hughes of U3A said he’d been involved with several shows in the Hall, which had enjoyed
a near capacity audience of 200 people. He pointed out that there simply wasn’t another venue
in the area that could take this number of people, and felt that this needed to be pointed out to
the Council.

He also said that he considered that if the Council only needed to save £20,000 this amount
could be raised by every show at the Civic Hall contributing a seat levy, of perhaps £2 a seat.
This should offset the amount the Council needed to save.

Shirley Betts of Colwyn Abbey Players said that her Group had found that Theatr Colwyn was
too expensive. She also pointed out that the Council only allowed twelve licences per year for
performances at Conwy Civic Hall. She wondered why this restriction had been applied.

Sian Lewis pointed out that the Theatr Colwyn was in fact closed until May, and wondered
whether the Council could be persuaded to at least hold off the closure of the Civic Hall until
Theatr Colwyn had re-opened. What she wondered would happen to performances booked
later than March, and prior to May. Both Llew Groom and Geoff Skelhorn responded that they
would have to be cancelled.

In response to this Phyllis Pritchard, who made bookings for the Conwy Historical Society said
that the Council had accepted bookings from her Society until May, and if they were to be
cancelled she would expect some financial recompense from the Council.

Both Sue Holt, from the audience, and David Crawford of the Next Stage Theatre Company felt
that the matter should be pursued with some urgency, and Mr. Crawford felt that any
approaches to Councillors should be positive, with suggestions for what individuals, or groups
thought the Councillors should do.

Tony Franks, the Chairman of Conwy Folk Club suggested that organisations could ask their
members to sign a petition, and that a petition be organised, perhaps asking visitors to the Hall
to sign one.

The Mayor of Conwy suggested that people might write to the Acting Chief Executive of Conwy
CBC, Mr. Ken Finch, as she felt he would be more likely to act than some of the Councillors.

Numerous people in the audience felt that some action should be taken as a matter of urgency,
and Llew Groom suggested that interested people might give their names to the Secretary of
the meeting, so that a new CCHUG Committee could be formed to take the work of CCHUG
forward.

Mr. Ewan Berry of the North Wales Pioneer offered to take people’s names, who were
interested, so he could keep people generally informed of progress.

Brian, the Caretaker of the Hall, asked to speak. He said that he had been very impressed by
the professionalism of the Groups that used the Civic Hall. He urged people to use the same
professionalism in approaching the Council, and in pursuing the object of keeping the Civic Hall
open.

Closing the Meeting Llew Groom asked those interested in taking some action, and forming a
Committee to come forward and give their names, so the matter could be further pursued.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2010, 09:44:22 am by DaveR »

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #91 on: November 09, 2010, 02:48:49 pm »
I think Santas' coming prepared for Conwy this year
 _))* _))*
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley


Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #92 on: November 09, 2010, 09:42:12 pm »
A second Public Meeting is being held this Friday at 7.30pm in the Civic hall:

"This second meeting is being called to define a way forward, this will include for example: setting some short and medium term aims and objectives, electing steering committee members, and recruiting activists and standing committee members."

http://saveconwycivichall.blogspot.com/2010/11/public-meeting-on-friday-at-730pm-at.html


Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #93 on: November 10, 2010, 11:18:04 am »
I have found the DTZ Gillespies Feasibility Report for the Conwy Quay & Civic Hall:
http://modgoveng.conwy.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=7243

Offline MrFalafel

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #94 on: November 11, 2010, 11:32:57 am »
He'll need more protection than that from the ruffian youth gathered in the square  ;D

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #95 on: November 11, 2010, 11:44:45 am »
He'll need more protection than that from the ruffian youth gathered in the square  ;D
Oooooh MrFalafel are you trying to press my buttons  _))*

« Last Edit: November 11, 2010, 11:48:35 am by Pendragon »
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #96 on: November 13, 2010, 02:59:34 pm »
Saw this car on the way to work yesterday morning, bet the poor owner is gutted. ¢¢##
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #97 on: November 13, 2010, 06:02:41 pm »
 :o looks like a good Saab, shame to see, our last house near Porthmadog had some of those awfull block walls most of which were loose and I had to take them down  :rage:  mind you the whole house was a house from hell! Thank goodness we are here now 8) D)
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline Tillymint

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #98 on: November 14, 2010, 07:15:05 pm »
Saw this car on the way to work yesterday morning, bet the poor owner is gutted. ¢¢##

Too right he was gutted !! He has only owned it for about six weeks bawling.gif bawling.gif

Offline Trojan

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #99 on: November 15, 2010, 06:27:01 am »
Wonder which building firm built that wall? 

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #100 on: November 15, 2010, 09:14:45 pm »
Wonder which building firm built that wall? 
who would be liable. Was the car legally parked. Would that matter?
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Yorkie

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #101 on: November 16, 2010, 06:12:52 pm »
If the driver has fully comprehensive insurance he will be covered unless the insurer claims an "Act of God".                  $uk

Offline Bellringer

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #102 on: November 16, 2010, 06:14:41 pm »
How much longer are those lights going to be on the bridge?

Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #103 on: November 16, 2010, 06:36:34 pm »
When I went through on Saturday, they looked to be working on a very deep hole - might be a few days yet.

Offline Bellringer

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Re: Everything to do with Conwy
« Reply #104 on: November 16, 2010, 08:05:25 pm »
Yes the very deep hole is still there. I thought that if the bridge was closed completely on Saturday and Sunday nights, then the work would be completed by Monday am but then again .................................!!