Save Newcastle City Hall - an update

By North East Music History

The Newcastle City Hall Facebook page has added a new post about its future which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/Newcastlecityhall/posts/10151306398704204

North East Music History (NEMH) has the following comments to make about this: Firstly, as we’ve made clear previously, the focus of our campaign is certainly not the management and staff of the venue itself. Our campaign is targeted at the people in Newcastle Council who will determine the future of the City Hall. The key decisions on this will not, alas, be left to the people who work at the venue. The statement indicates there is now considerable speculation that the City Hall is under threat of closure. That’s true and is hardly surprising when Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of the City Council and the man ultimately responsible for decisions on this issue, told the BBC on 27th November, “the whole site - the City Hall and Pool - doesn't have a long-term future given the current funding climate.” Whilst NEMH welcomes the statement that the venue management has “put forward a series of proposals to enhance the financial viability of the City Hall”, we do not consider that, in itself, changes anything regarding our campaign. We don’t know the details of these proposals, we don’t yet know whether the Council is prepared to accept and implement them – and we still don’t know what the Council’s own plan is for the long term use of the site. In short, we believe our campaign to save the City Hall as a vibrant performance venue is still very much needed. The campaign will continue and indeed will be intensified early in the New Year. Finally, as the Newcastle City Hall post says, the venue is continuing to operate and tickets are on sale for a range of gigs in 2013. NEMH hopes you will support the venue by going to City Hall gigs and continue to support the campaign by signing the petition at www.change.org/savenewcastlecityhall , which has so far collected over 8,000 signatures online and in the street. The two things are hardly mutually exclusive!

Save Newcastle City Hall

by North East Music History



PRESS RELEASE – NORTH EAST MUSIC HISTORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


NORTH EAST MUSIC LOVERS CALL ON COUNCIL TO SAVE NEWCASTLE CITY HALL 





The North East's music-loving public are rushing to defend Newcastle City Hall, demanding that it should continue as a performance venue. Newcastle City Council has asked for people’s views on the future of the City Hall, within the recently published Budget proposals.


The North East Music History group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/northeastmusichistory  has once again demonstrated the power of social media, by launching an e-petition calling for the City Hall to be saved as a music venue. In less than 24 hours, it has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures and expects to attract at least 10,000 signatures by the end of the consultation period.


North East Music History group and blog admin, Hazel Plater, author and ex-employee of Newcastle's legendary Riverside music venue, which closed in 1999, said,“We have lost Newcastle's iconic venues The Mayfair and Riverside in recent history, and the Club A-Go-Go before them. Newcastle City Hall has so much history; from orchestras and opera, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Dylan, Beatles, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Bowie, Blondie, Lindisfarne Christmas Concerts, Stand-up Comedy and much more. It’s not at all clear what Newcastle City Council’s intentions are towards the City Hall site. Our group believes that the Council should do whatever is necessary to save the City Hall as a performance venue. This would not only recognise its iconic status and its rich musical history but also acknowledge that it still has massive potential as a performance venue in the future, as part of the cultural industry activity that we hope will form an important part of our future local economy.”


Tony Stephenson, North East Music History group contributor said, "We need first to secure the council's commitment to retaining the City Hall as a performance venue in a way that will enable to offer a great experience to the ticket buying public. Whether that is as a wholly run public enterprise or as a partnership or a privately run deal (with absolutely binding terms and conditions from the Council) I, personally, am prepared to be pragmatic about. The important thing is to secure its future and commitment to its continuation as a viable venue, not to sell it off now or allow it to pass into the hands of people who will run it down in order to pitch for change of use of the site and then it's lost anyway."


Martin Craig, a musician and also part of the NEMH group said, “We want more members of the public plus performers linked to Newcastle City Hall to sign the petition before the end of the consultation period on 1st February 2013. We are conducting a high profile campaign to save the City Hall for future generations.”


If you want to add your voice to the e-petition to save Newcastle City Hall you can go online at:

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/newcastle-city-council-save-newcastle-city-hall




WEB LINKS:

Relevant Newcastle City Council document: http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/drupalncc.newcastle.gov.uk/files/wwwfileroot/your-council/budget_and_annual_report/budget_2016_-_13_-_city_hall_and_city_pool.pdf

North East Music History Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/northeastmusichistory/

North East Music History blog: http://www.northeastmusichistory.org.uk




ENDS. XXXXXXXX

Newcastle City Hall - under threat.