SIR - I am confused and angered at the way that the Conservative county council has handled the future of the much-loved Tower Arts Centre.
I am confused because in the last three weeks Ken Thornber and Margaret Snaith have been quoted as saying that they were involved in "preliminary discussions" with Kings' School, and it was "early days".
Yet last week they made the decision to transfer it to the school.
It also emerged that they had been considering this for a year!
I am angered because the decision has been made without public consultation. In the four weeks since the press became aware of the proposal, there has been significant protest from the public (767 signatures on the e-petition at the last count).
The council has then tried to allay fears by saying that discussions are at an early stage and that it is not closing - just transferring to the school.
Does anyone know of any other community art centres elsewhere in the UK that are run by schools?
The decision has been based on a report from the county council that is unbalanced and lacks detail.
It does not address the loss of a number of activities - in particular the very popular evening programme.
There is no information on the capacity for the school to deliver in terms of financial and human resources.
The county council has not responded directly to the many specific questions that have been asked of it in writing by the public.
It has also ignored both the Winchester city and the local county councillors who pressed for another year of programming while the options were weighed up.
The Tower Arts Centre has been operating for 38 years, providing high quality arts programming to around 15,000 people per year.
Over this time it has developed into a valuable asset for the county.
As an arts centre it has now been consigned to history at the stroke of a pen.
The Conservative county council has acted in a very arrogant and shoddy way, and should be held to account for this.
Alistair Marsden, Stanmore Lane, Winchester.
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