Salisbury City Hall: Hundreds of people sign petition to reopen the venue immediately
The Council say £2 million worth of work needs to be done
Last updated 6th Jul 2023
The organiser of a petition to get Salisbury City Hall reopened has criticised Wiltshire Council for not speaking to local people about solutions to get the war memorial building opened again.
Paul Sample has launched a campaign which includes a public event on 29th July, to try and change the council’s mind on closing the venue until repair works to the roof are carried out.
Mr Sample said: “They (Wiltshire Council) have got lots of pipe dreams which they haven't even bothered to discuss with local people.
“There's been no consultation. They haven't asked what residents want they're charging in with what they think the solution is.”
A few weeks ago, Council Leader Richard Clewer told us it was going to cost £2 million to bring the venue up to scratch, with an assessment reaching the conclusion that sound vibrations from live music could “bring the house down”.
Lack of funding claims are "untrue"
The venue has been under Council control for over a decade, in which time is has hosted various artists and comedians, before most recently being used by the NHS as a COVID-19 vaccination centre.
Mr Sample says suggestions that the money isnt there are wrong.
“When they say that they can't afford to repair it, that's not true. They have millions of pounds of Salisbury City Hall money in their reserves. They're just choosing not to reopen it. And the longer that it takes for them to change their mind, the more expensive it will be to fix.”
A Facebook group called, ‘Re-open Salisbury City Hall Now’ has been created by Mr Sample, while a petition has also been set up, which he says the response from locals has been “brilliant”.
“Salisbury's really piled in behind the campaign,” he said, adding: “We've got hundreds and hundreds of signatures on the campaign. It's going to go well over 1000 over the course of the next couple of days, and we've got more than 600 people on the Facebook page, so it's very, very popular.”
Public event to be held outside City Hall
Speaking about the event on the 29th, which will be held outside City Hall, Mr Sample said the aim is to express “solidarity” with each other and plan the next steps.
He hopes that members of the major political parties are able to attend, as well as locals who back the campaign.
And while the short-term goal is to reopen the venue, Mr Sample admitted it would take some time to bring big name bands back to Salisbury.
But with the doors closed, the overall cost of restoring the City Hall to being a top-line venue grows.
“The longer it's empty, the longer it's derelict, the more it's going to cost,” he said, adding: “The problem is with this particular group at County Hall is they couldn't organiser party in a brewery.”
Council say reopening isn't 'simple'
The Council has reaffirmed it’s commitment to reopening the venue, with the Council Leader saying the process isn’t “simple”:
“I know local people are very vocal and passionate about re-opening City Hall as soon as possible and, while we completely understand that sentiment.
“We can’t open a building which isn’t safe to allow live music to be played in. Given the scale of the work involved we are taking a couple of months to undertake an assessment on the best solution for City Hall as an entertainment venue that is sustainable for the long-term.”
A cultural quarter, including Salisbury Library, has long been suggested as the way forward.