How wonderful it is to see local people from West Somerset taking action to put the heart back into their local community.
According to the West Somerset Free Press, 29th February 2008, Mitch Wicking, Peter Jaques and Ruth Gavenlock have come up with an exciting proposal to create a new cultural centre out of the old West Somerset Council's main reception and meeting area.
(I'm so very tempted to ask 'Who said silk purses couldn't be made out of pigs ears?' But that would be a merely negative comment of the sort I try to avoid, however hard pressed by local events.)
Even better, apparently, these three excellent musketeers have already garnered the support of 250 locals for the project.
This project is everything that West Somerset should be doing to achieve regeneration in the area. It re-uses existing assets in an innovative and economic way, it is community based, it will act to support small local artistic and creative businesses, involve young people and promote tourism. The list of beneficiaries of this scheme seems endless and limited only by our community's imagination.
How sad it is to see that up against this vibrant new idea, which already has such local support, those who see capital redevelopment as a fix all are massing. Apparently, there is a plan for a new supermarket and a whole load of other town centre changes which are in competition with this community project.
Of course, all these redevelopment proposals are 'hush hush' and don't have the backing of the local people so we can only guess at what they involve.
It is possible that the ideal solution would be to pull together the two strands so that Williton gets the benefit of an updated High St, improved parking and traffic routing whilst, at the same time, gaining all the benefits that would be achieved through the new cultural centre.
This would require West Somerset Council to have a commitment to transparency and a willingness for an open dialogue with the public that has been so lacking in the past.
To expand the metaphor I was tempted to use above - 'and pigs might fly!'
West Somerset artists, crafters, writers, musicians and tourism businesses must grasp this opportunity to clearly state how important this project is to the heart of our community.
Your comments are welcomed below.
Rob
Friday, February 29, 2008
Putting the heart back into Williton with a new West Somerset Cultural Centre
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2 comments:
Rob - on behalf of the founding group of the West Somerset Cultural Centre a mighty big THANKS for the enthusiastic words of support and encouragement and we hope many more will follow your lead in voicing their support and maybe desire to join the group. The more the merrier.
As you so aptly put it, this is an ideal opportunity for all artists, crafters, writers, musicians and tourism businesses to get behind because of the wonderful potential it holds. We now need to hear their voices and see their faces and get this project booming along while we have the chance. Time is of the essence and we want to hear from anyone who wants to back this proposal so that we can prove to West Somerset Council that all kinds of people would use the venue and frequent it for the love of the creative arts and culture and all that lies between and above and beyond...
To support valuable community initiatives like yours is my absolute pleasure, Mitch.
West Somerset is a great area and has massive potential for being at the forefront of community development in the UK for the benefit of everybody.
All we need is a shared vision and the energy to put that vision into reality.
Working together, we can move mountains.
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