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Town hall is the litmus test for town's future
(April 05, 2009)THE elections on 4 June are to be a choice between those who have aspirations for the town and those who don’t.
Those who are content to do nothing or the very minimum and those who want to make a difference.
No more is this in evidence than at the Town Hall.
Mrs Ridout, the Conservative candidate for Warminster west, has honestly and openly declared her view - but not every agrees.We don’t.
Those who favour the do-nothing approach have, on their website tried to play down the significance of the building.
They call it the Old Town Hall (upper case) - is there a New Town Hall? - NO.
They seem to want to rubbish its history.
“I’m not content to see the main building in my home town left to rot,” said Steve Dancey.
“It certainly has been an important building in the past - just take a look at this milestone in Tytherington which was erected in 1840. You’ll see quite clearly it says the distance measured from ‘Warminster Town Hall’.
“There are pictures of King George V being welcomed to the town outside the town hall.
“My mother, who was also brought up in Warminster, used to tell me stories about how, as a young teen, she would stand outside the building during the Second World War listening to the music put on for the dances attended by the American soldiers.
“It was the focal point of the town.
“Many more of us can recall reading the reports in the Journal about the cases heard in the Magistrates’ Court.
“I can recall in the early 1990s being button-holed by Peter Gough, a respected town councillor, about the decision taken to move the court out.
“This was taken by the magistrates courts committee without any reference to local members - I would have certainly made a lot of noise about it at the time.
“That building need to returned and be the hub of the town.”
As for them claiming that nothing can be done about the pigeons because it is a listed building ??? More ignorance I’m afraid - I’ll be sending them some close ups of what can be done, and already has been by a concerned local authority, to a Guildhall plagued by this problem in another town.