New Arts Hub

[Sam]

I’ll let you into a little secret. It will fail, it will fail badly.
The politicians and dignitaries will have they’re opening day photo shoot, this will encompass a lot of patting of backs, bubbly sipping and general lardy Dar-ness. It’ll closey be followed by a promotion of reduced rates, then a public outcry as more local services are cut whilst the Wrexham public are ‘taxed’ too fund this now embarrassing wart.

I’m no mystic meg, but the above ain’t that far out.

And before the pros start bleating about the negativity of this post.

Ask yourself, what ultimately creates a town or city centre? Shops.

Wrexham can’t even promote what empty shops we have. It doesn’t inspire confidence at all.

[Adam]

Disappointing how they are prepared to subsidise a facility that will benefit, well, potentially nobody but refuse to subsidise town centre parking which would benefit the entire town economy..

[wrexview]

“The £1.5m funding from Wrexham Council will be met through proceeds from sales of commercial estate property.”

What commercial estate property has the Council sold ?

[MP1953]

[quote quote=105664]Disappointing how they are prepared to subsidise a facility that will benefit, well, potentially nobody but refuse to subsidise town centre parking which would benefit the entire town economy..

[/quote]

Very true, how many Wrexham people actually used the old Arts Centre! as a side note I worked on the building of the old arts centre in the seventies it was never used that much even in the early days when it was first built and I don’t see this new one being any different.

[jimbow]

I attended the Scrutiny meeting on Wednesday at which Councillors gave it the go ahead to be sent to the Executive Board. 13 Councillors on the Committee, 4 voted for, 1 against and 1 abstained. There were a couple of apologies for absence, but some Councillors had gone home before the vote was taken. They are paid good money £13,000 to carry out their duties, if we as the public showed more interest in Council affairs then maybe we could put more pressure on our ward representatives. However, there were more questions asked by Councillors, who were not on the committee than those on it. Maybe a webcast of the Scrutiny meetings would help. The Leader of the Council has the gift to sort it out.Let us see what happens in the future.

[wrexview]

Are you saying only six Councillors in total were involved in the vote, and only four of them were in favour?

[jimbow]

[quote quote=105711]Are you saying only six Councillors in total were involved in the vote, and only four of them were in favour?

[/quote] Yes. Read the Wrexham.com report of the meeting.Hub Green Light As On Going Loss Is Cost Of Culture

[wrexview]

Poor show that all members of the Scrutiny Committee were not present to vote on something that will have such huge financial implications for years to come. No doubt the Excecutive Board will approve the project but the final hurdle is the Full Council Meeting where every Councillor has a vote. A recorded vote would list the names of those Councillors for and against and may concentrate a few minds !

[Sheefag]

Forgive me in advance for a post that’s overly rich in metaphors.

Politically, Wrexham languishes in the past. Elected councillors have historically always embraced being ‘Right On Socialists’ and enjoyed the left wing kudos of being completely anti business rather than do the right thing for the town.

Local small and medium sized businesses and the people who take the risks to build and run them, have always been reluctantly tolerated and certainly NOT encouraged.

For all of her sins, Stephanie Booth showed that it’s not hard to generate footfall and that it wouldn’t actually take that much to turn the tide in Wrexham but the powers that be would require a ‘sea change’ in attitude.

This is sadly however, a price too high and a bridge too far for those who proudly enjoy scattering words such as community like confetti.

[Katia]

Wrexham.com – Arts Hub Green Light As Ongoing Loss Is Cost Of Culture
“At this point the financial debate appeared to become almost irrelevant, with Cllr Jones explaining that such losses are a price worth paying: “There will never be a point where the arts and cultural element makes a profit. There is a price as nation we pay for our heritage and our arts and our culture” going on to give examples of the education system as similar expenditure with no definitive or often tangible gain.”

Arts Hub Green Light As Ongoing Loss Is Cost Of Culture

Wrexham.com – twitter
Clr Hugh Jones fires back at Clr Skelland asking if ’12 months at college’ experience of figs & biz is better than professional consultants.
5:50 PM – 6 Jan 2016

Meanwhile in Cardiff…
BBC Wales News Friday 08/01/2016 – How Much Should Our Councils Spend On The Arts ?
“ Cardiff Council is proposing cuts of around £700,000 saying it simply cannot afford to keep handing out grants.
Huw Thomas – BBC Wales Arts & Media Correspondent reports.
Planned cuts at Cardiff Council include ending support for Artes Mundi : £20,000, Cardiff Contemporary : £87,000, Cardiff Singer Of The World : £36,000 and around £700,000 of other cuts that will affect arts and culture in the city.
It boils down to a fundamental task of trying to balance the books.
While the arts world prepares for this year’s cuts there is a warning of worse to come.
Local Government Consultant Jeff Jones – “ Up until 2020 there are going to be cuts and even after that none of us know the future. So I think that if you are in a service like the arts and you are someone that in the past relied on a grant from the council you’ve got to get your head around the fact that grant will definitely be cut – possibly in the future it might not even be there – and then you’ve got to look for other sources of income. “

So here in the dreamy cultural oasis of post-austerity Wrexham its all about art for arts sake whilst the hardly deprived cultural flagship Cardiff is seriously concerned about the money for God’s sake. Why not have a Council Tax Freeze instead ?

Cllr Skelland may take comfort that a professional consultant seems to concur with his opinions after all – albeit one commenting about Cardiff not Wrexham. Are not the arts universal ?

One aspect of this project that is definitely underestimated is the likely devastating impact for the market traders of the building works – having witnessed the impact on King Street whilst the bus station was improved* it would be miraculous if many of the present businesses survive – unless seriously subsidised in some form.

*{not serious}

[Author]

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