Paul Sample, a local councillor in Salisbury, has called on Wiltshire Council to "pull your finger out" regarding the ongoing process of reopening the City Hall.
Cllr Sample, who sits as a councillor on both Salisbury City and Wiltshire Council, has been vocal in his frustration with the process of reopening Salisbury's City Hall as an entertainment venue.
Yesterday (11th January), Wiltshire Council announced that they want to engage an organisation to run Salisbury’s City Hall on a long-term lease following its market engagement, calling it ‘insightful’.
The building has now been empty for almost a year, following the end of the vaccination programme in the City Hall in March 2023.
It was first reported ten months ago that Wiltshire Council were seeking a third party to run the venue, and Cllr Sample is frustrated at the amount of time the process is taking. He told Salisbury Radio, "Every day that goes past means lost audiences and lost income.
"City Hall customers are simply going elsewhere. The loss to Salisbury's night-time economy is colossal. Millions of pounds that could have been spent in our cafes, restaurants, pubs and clubs has gone. Come on, Wiltshire Council, pull your finger out!"
Cllr Ricky Rogers, also a Salisbury City and Wiltshire Councillor, is growing frustrated, too. He told Salisbury Radio, “ This latest statement does feel like yet another delay another delay; back in November 2020, Salisbury Wiltshire Councillors supported my Motion for the City Hall to be re-opened as soon as ‘Safe and Practical’ all of this marketing work could and should have been done by now, if suitable organisations are not there then consider Salisbury Friends of City Hall Group or have the political will to run it ‘In House’ as it had been successfully run for over 40 years”
It's even longer since Wiltshire Council announced its initial intentions in October 2022.
The building hasn’t been an entertainment venue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Between December 2020, the City Hall was occupied by the NHS to support its efforts to mass vaccinate the population against COVID-19; this continued until March 2023.
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