Protest group statement

The following is the statement issued by the protestors immediately prior to the meeting with SWRDA which took place today.

---

STATEMENT FROM THE PROTEST GROUP AT MORLANDS TO THE SOUTH WEST REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
12/01/09

We appreciate your arranging this meeting and are optimistic of a positive outcome that all can agree to.

There are two main issues that we would like to see addressed:

Public Meeting

There is a general feeling of dissatisfaction in the community about the dearth of information as to the current status of the redevelopment plans on the Morlands site as a whole. We do not wish to engage in yet another round of full public consultation and neither do we wish any meeting to be a highly charged and disorganised event. What we seek is authoritative information from those in a position to give that.

We suggest that a possible solution could be to ask the Mayor to call an extra-ordinary meeting of the Town Council and invite the SWRDA to attend. We suggest that this meeting be held in the Main Hall of the Town Hall
with the Morlands site as the sole Agenda item. Members of the public could submit written questions in advance of the meeting and a couple could speak briefly in the 3-minute slot allocated under normal meeting rules. We feel that this format could result in an informative meeting to the benefit of all and would meet our request for a Public Meeting.

The future of the 'red brick building'

Prior to the public announcement that demolition of the building was to start on Jan 5th we had been under the impression that plans were in place for its renovation and eventual use. Given the short timescale over the holiday period the community was unable to respond meaningfully to this unexpected development. Since the building has been occupied a number of people, including an architect, a surveyor and several elected representatives, have visited the site. Most have expressed surprise at the relatively good condition of the building and feel that it could be possible for it to be retained and put to good use for the community.

We would ask for a ‘stay of execution’ for six months in order to allow the community to draw up a realistic proposal for the renovation of the building. We have already been in contact with several organisations and, given time, are confident that we could present a viable business plan, including initial funding and projected long-term income streams. To that end we would set up a formally constituted organisation and work closely with existing organisations within the town.


In the meantime we would support the building being effectively secured in order to address your legitimate Health & Safety concerns and would be willing to help identify vulnerable points of entry of which we are aware.

We request that both these proposals be given serious consideration at today’s meeting and hope that agreement can be reached for the benefit of all concerned. Morlands could be a community asset and we sincerely hope that the community can work in partnership with the SWRDA to make that vision a reality.

---

Watch this space, more to come very soon!