Campaign launched to save Conwy Civic Hall

Nov 4 2010 by Mari Jones, North Wales Weekly News

A BATTLE plan has been drawn up by supporters of the Civic Hall in Conwy, who will fight to save it from closure.

A petition, Facebook page, letters to the council’s chief executive, a benefit concert and a sit down protest were some of the ideas mooted at the energetic meeting on Tuesday night.

Last week it emerged the Civic Hall has become one of the first victims of the spending cuts after Conwy County Council confirmed it would close it in December to save £20,000 a year.

Although the library will continue, the upstairs area used by local clubs will be shut. The downstairs lounge space will only be open during library opening hours.

The news came as a huge blow to the town as it’s the third largest performing space in the county, after Venue Cymru and Theatr Colwyn.

Conwy County Council has entered into a six-month agreement with an unnamed local hotelier which means the Civic Hall could be developed into a commercial enterprise if the authority approves of the firm’s ideas for it.

On Tuesday around 100 representatives from the user groups of the Civic Hall met to discuss the its future.

Many of the organisations who use it say the closure will mean the end for them too, as they can’t afford to rent anywhere else.

The meeting was also attended by town councillors and the mayor of Conwy Vicky Macdonald, who questioned why the local county councillors Tony Tobin and Joan Vaughan weren’t present.

She said: “We hadn’t been told of the closure. It’s been handled in a disingenuous way.”

The group discussed leasing the space from the local authority, and there were suggestions of raising the hire fees which have stayed the same since 1984.

Cllr Macdonald suggested Conwy Town Council could set some money aside from its budget to help fund it.

David Hughes, of the Civic Hall Amateur Players drama group, said to much cheering: “The council needs to step aside as we could do a better job of running it.”

And Sue Holt said: “We’ve got to get the community behind us and force the council to keep it open.”

Sian Lewis added: “We need to send letters to councillors, and Ken Finch, the acting chief executive, to show how much concern there is.

“Why not arrange a public meeting and invite them all here?”

Karen Roberts, chair of Kaleidoscope Drama Group in Deganwy, said: “If this hall closes there’s nowhere else for us to go. They’ve suggested Ysgol Aberconwy, but there are no dressing rooms there and you can’t lump all the children in one room because of child protection laws.

“We have 40 children on our books, as does the Teenz ‘n’ Kidz drama group.

“If it closes young Welsh stars like Elgan Llyr Thomas, the recent winner of the Bryn Terfel Scholarship, will not have the opportunity to learn how to perform.

“Rising stars like Elgan started with local drama groups. We could lose a generation of talent from the Conwy area.”

It was decided that a new committee will be formed made up of users. Queues formed of people eager to join.

As Phyllis Pritchard said: “The Aberconwy Historical Society has been coming here for 60 years.

“We’ve got to do something as they are just kicking us out onto the streets.”

Goronwy Edwards, Conwy's cabinet member for communities, was asked by the Weekly News why nothing was mentioned about the Civic Hall’s closure to Conwy Town Council during his recent visit there. He replied: “I was there to answer questions. If there is a group which wants to take it over who have viable ideas, then the door is open.”

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