Liberal Democrat councillors campaign to save Dorking Halls

Speech by Margaret Cooksey & Stephen Cooksey on behalf of Mole Valley Liberal Democrat councillors delivered to Press release on Sun 1st Feb 2009

Dorking's Liberal Democrat Councillors are campaigning hard against the cuts in funding for Dorking Halls proposed by the Conservative Executive in their 2009-2010 budget. Since the budget was first announced at Christmas we have been trying to find out from the Executive how it expected its proposed cut of £74,000 to affect the staffing and services provided at the Halls but to date the only response has been silence.

Information from other sources is beginning to reveal the true picture - a reduction of up to 50% in the 2009-2010 show programme, the abandonment of the Christmas pantomime and reductions in staffing leading to unacceptable pressure on those who remain. Cutting the number of shows also means that income from sources such as the bar and restaurant will be reduced leading to even more financial difficulties. And on top of that the Executive is proposing to charge for evening car parking.

A year ago the Council tried to offload Dorking Halls to a private company or a trust and failed to do so. What the Conservatives seem to be doing now is to make it almost impossible for the Halls to function as a venue providing a high standard of entertainment which could lead to it reverting to what it was before the multi-million pound refurbishment - a large but uncared for village hall. Since they failed to offload the Halls they seem determined to undermine their success - perhaps so that another attempt to offload would be more successful.

Dorking Halls is a significant feature in the life of the town and an essential part of the community and its loss would be a tragic blow to Dorking. We are and will continue to campaign hard against these cuts and will join with all those members of the community who are equally concerned in an attempt to reverse these proposals. The refurbishment of the Halls emanated from the time that the Liberal Democrats controlled Mole Valley Council and we will not easily let the years of success that followed be discarded by an uncaring Conservative Council. It is time for the whole community to stand up and be counted in outright opposition to what is being proposed.