Artopia
If you live, work, or are on holiday in Whitby, check this out…
Friday 29th May 2009.
WHITBY COLISEUM
7:30pm – 10:00pm
ADMISSION FREE
15-minute Presentation Film followed by Q&A Session.
Every half hour, on the half hour.
You can’t have an opinion about it if you don’t see it for yourselves.
PLEASE COME AND CHECK OUT THIS SUPERB WHITBY COMMUNITY PROJECT
Visit our temporary web-site for more information.
Click image above.
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Good morning, Drac – and thank you once again for presenting the people of Whitby with another opportunity to take an pro-active role in carrying our case forward.
Isn’t it illuminating to note that those of us who love our town and its beautiful surrounding countryside are giving freely of our time and our talents to counteract the long-standing negligence – some say sabotage – of our Local Authority?
I have had a flat refusal from SBC’s Brian Bennett to offer ANT support to WHITBY IN SHORTS – though he knows full well that it is a charitable and unfunded Whitby initiative. We have seen one superb local festival bite the dust recently – and it’s not just lack of support; it’s obstacle in the form of mountainous piles of red tape.
Enough!
ARTOPIA PRESENTATION
Nigel Ward’s ARTOPIA Presentation Friday 29th May was well-attended (approaching 200 people saw the presentation). The overwhelming majority (98%) expressed strong support for the project, though there were 3 dissenting voices, one of which was quite coherent; the point being made that other community/arts projects elsewhere had apparently failed, convincing grounds for never again attempting a community/arts project.
Pete Budd passed around his famous hat, and £117.90 was collected to partially defray the £185 hire of the Coliseum.
Mr John Riby (SBC’s Head of Technical Services) told the audience that, notwithstanding the Maritime Museum element of the project, any change from a port usage would require a Harbour Revision Order, and cautioned that such a process might take 12 or 13 years.
Despite Whitby Town Council resolving last month to send a letter to SBC requiring that a community use of the Shed should remain an option, Mr Riby told us that he was committed to knocking it down and extending the car park, or leasing/selling the building to private enterprise for industrial purposes. Three weeks ago, Mr Riby told Mr Ward that if the will was there the Harbour Revision Order could be ratified within two to three months. Mr Riby’s history of truthfully reporting the facts is on the public record.
Whitby Town Council ex-Mayor, Steve Smith, offered his support to Mr Riby’s two-pronged proposal.
Members of the audience, however, were keen to fill in the ‘We Want Your Input’ forms, with space for yoga/healing activities the most popular suggestion. Another suggestion was a cinema/theatre.
Asked for a reaction to the event, Mr Ward said, ”It boils down to taking your pick between three options: an extended car park, an industrial site, or Artopia – I think it is a no-brainer. Given the location – right in the centre of Whitby, who in their right mind could support Mr Riby’s two-pronger? Having wasted around quarter of a million pounds on business rates so far, SBC are keen to claw back some income from the car park option. They have no plans to spend it here in Whitby. A charitable foundation feeding its profits straight back into Whitby is the last thing SBC wants. But it’s not their town – it’s ours. Government policy supports our bid, and the Tories even more so. Whichever way the General Election goes, the new thinking calls for a return of responsibility and control to our communities. SBC’s reign of self-interest is coming to an end. Whitby Town Council is weak, ineffectual and inadequately mandated. I would expect the new Whitby & Esk Valley Community Council to step in and recover many of the public assets that have been systemically stripped by SBC, and to sue them for 35 years of negligence and dereliction of statutory duty.”