Whitchurch Save our Civic Campaigners were at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, to make there thoughts known to Councillors about the cuurent closure of there civic hall.
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00:00Save our Civic! The beating heart of Whitchurch Town Centre! So say I, the Whitchurch Town Pirate!
00:12I'll bring it up to speed next meeting, but there's a much more positive feel than I ever realised about the whole thing.
00:20So gents, we're here at Show Hall, and I'm completely pirate. What are we doing then? Save our Civic!
00:30It's about saving the Civic in Whitchurch. Saving the Civic Centre in Whitchurch, which has been closed because of rack concrete.
00:36Ah, so this is the dodgy concrete roofs. That's right. It's currently condemned and said it can't be used for safety purposes.
00:43But we believe that it actually has got a future, and it can either be repaired, restored, or even rise again like the Phoenix and be rebuilt.
00:51But we mustn't lose it. Whatever happens, it's been there for 50 years, and there was a building there before that for 100 years or so.
00:58So it's a civic facility for the community, and the community needs it.
01:03And it is well used, isn't it? There's a lot of events there. I mean, have you got an actor here, I believe?
01:08That's right, yes. Where? I'm real. He's a pretender.
01:16So, and you perform yourself, aren't you, sir? Yes, I'm a musician and conductor, and I've conducted operas there.
01:22In fact, I first conducted in the Civic in 1991 for a professional orchestra. I loved it then, I love it now.
01:29It's got a great feel. It's actually about the second biggest performing space in Shropshire in terms of the number of people who can attend.
01:36It's got a full stage, so you can do everything from musicals to opera to live bands. It was famous for its Northern Soul Nights.
01:43You know, it is a wonderful hub, and it serves the area not just of Whitchurch, but of the Marches, South Cheshire, into Wales.
01:50It serves a very, very important geographical region, and without it, you know, we're missing a great facility for that area.
01:57So at the minute, they're saying two and a half billion to repair the roof and, yeah, fix that. That's what they're saying.
02:04That's one figure that's been mentioned, yes.
02:06But there is also the fear, I understand, that they're on about flattening the thing, building cheaper retail units with some flats above,
02:14which, obviously, there won't be no operas there, will there?
02:17Well, no.
02:18Well, we're great believers that the High Street exemplifies the sort of artery of the community,
02:24and a healthy High Street tells you to go to a healthy community, and if you start taking places like the Civic away from that,
02:31it's totally detrimental, and you'll have a domino effect of, you know, places disappearing.
02:36Yeah.
02:37You know, we only heard yesterday we're likely to lose our last bank.
02:40Oh, okay, yeah.
02:42You know, so at the moment, it's a challenge, but the thing is, it's rising to that challenge and coming up with positive remedies.
02:48Yeah, and I understand there's a load of new houses coming to Whitchurch, is that right?
02:52Yes, there's 500 new homes.
02:53Well, yes, they're building a huge new estate of 500 houses to encourage people to the area.
02:58That's not just the only building, but the High Street in Whitchurch is currently thriving.
03:02Yeah.
03:03Many, many independent shops in a way that some communities, you know, they haven't thrived in the same way,
03:08but therefore, it's vital that the Civic is there to support that, and also, Whitchurch is a market town.
03:14It sits in the heart of the cheese-making area, Cheshire, Belton Cheese.
03:18It's also a major agricultural center, and it's got this history of being a center for market produce and for food.
03:26It's got two Michelin-rated restaurants in the town as well, so the town is thriving.
03:30Yeah.
03:31And the Civic was part of that thriving as well, so we've got to get it back.
03:36Yeah, and you can't afford to sit on your laurels, because everything in the High Street is transient.
03:40Yeah.
03:41And if we could get this turned into whatever, it embeds a sense of positive energy in perpetuity.
03:48I mean, it is really important to remember that although the town is thriving, the Civic's been closed since last year.
03:54We're looking at losing our recycling center, potentially, and also Lloyd's TSP has just announced their closure.
04:02I mean, these are key facilities.
04:04They're the only bank in the town with ATMs, the recycling plant, the heart of the beating town.
04:10I mean, these are all under threat.
04:13And today, it's a peaceful protest. You've got a pirate, a peaceful pirate today.
04:19It's not a protest, it's a rally.
04:21A rally, a rally, a rally.
04:23Who keeps using the word protest? It's not a protest, it's a rally.
04:28I'll reframe that, we'll cut that in the edit.
04:31That's becoming our strapline. It's not a protest, it's a rally.
04:36It's really a rally.
04:37So, there's a council meeting, so you've just been handing out leaflets and chatting to councillors and just saying, look, please, don't let it go.
04:44Don't let us lose this.
04:45Don't let it go, don't forget it.
04:46Wichurch Matters, hashtag Wichurch Matters.
04:49Save our Civic.
04:50I get the feeling that the council is well aware of the issues.
04:53And actually, I do get the feeling that there's a generally positive wish to see this matter resolved in the right way.
05:01And for the benefit of the town.
05:02Quickly, as well.
05:03And as quickly as they can.
05:04The longer it'll just fall into disrepair, the longer it's left.
05:08It needs to be sorted quickly.
05:09It just needs to be made.
05:10I mean, this has happened through no fault of the town.
05:13It's not through mismanagement, it's through nothing else other than the wrong product being used in the build initially.
05:19And I've spoken to architects and a lot of architects were made to use this product by developers when they knew that it had a shelf life of maybe 30 or 40 years.
05:29And that it was going to be a disaster.
05:31So it's a planning issue going back many, many years.
05:34And decisions were taken that should never have been taken that affected schools, properties.
05:39And I think we're the only one of the few civic centres in the country that's been affected.
05:44So, surely, we have a right to be taken seriously because we are quite unique in terms of the issues raised.
05:51And we should be actually listened to and looked after.
05:55It's not a protest, it's a rally!