The Square in Harlow is a venue subsidised by Essex County Council (ECC), which has run cultural programmes, "rock school", art projects and even a "film school", for years. It regularly has visitors from the surrounding counties, London, and even further afield. The Council are instituting new policies which will lead to its closure.
SAVE THE SQUARE!
Besides its community functions, has showcased many years of up-and-coming ( and established) bands of all genres - punk, ska, acoustic, electronic, hardcore, metal, experimental, and indie, as well as drum n bass nights, club nights, comedy nights, and more that I'm not old enough to know about.
The Square is decades old, and has become a cultural institution of the town and its surrounding area. Perhaps most importantly of all, it gives the youth of Harlow something to do, and genuinely helps to stimulate socialisation, creativity and community cohesion - this is not marketing nonsense, I speak as someone who has years of experience as a customer and would be gutted to see The Square go.
ECC are instituting new policies from the 8th April. A document passed on to us by a member of staff shows that they aim to prevent the sale of alcohol inside the building, stop youth work with young people (YPs) under the influence of drugs, including alcohol, and book bands only between the ages of 13-19; one of the representatives of the council even suggested to the staff that they might have to turn away people who were over 19 at the door.
This is clearly ridiculous. The only reason the council could have for showing such a sudden interest in this after decades is that the lease on the building runs out in summer 2008, and when asked about their plans for the building after this, they replied "no comment". The land is a prime location for housing, a car park, or some other form of development, as it is right in the centre of town.
Please help us to fight back against the Council's plans for profit at the expense of the youth. They have supplied no justification for their reasons to staff, and have prevented them from discussing it with customers; furthermore, ECC have been avoiding YPs' questions on the issue, such as claiming that the jurisdiction for this falls under Harlow Town Council, even though the document we received, which was shown to staff in the meeting with ECC's representatives, is clearly labelled "Essex County Council" on each page.
The Square never serves alcohol to underage YPs, and often refuses admission to YPs that it deems to be under the influence of drugs (including alcohol), whether they are underage or not, in line with its own policies. Its staff perform essential youth work with those under the influence of drugs, and its popularity with its target age range (13-19) is booming, so why do the Council need to make alterations that will only turn the Square into a commercially unsuccessful playground?
If you have been to the Square, or would like to lend us a hand in defending our community, please contact any of the below addresses with your thoughts...
The county councillors who are responsible for harlow are shown here...
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=14341&guideOid=14337&guideContentOid=14357
and the leader of the council is shown here... (Lord Hanningfield)
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=14341&guideOid=14337&guideContentOid=14354
and the chairman of the Children, Young People and Schools Policy Development Group is shown here... (J. Albridge)
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=14341&guideOid=14337&guideContentOid=14354
and this is contact information for Bill Rammell, Harlow's Member of Parliament...
http://www.harlow.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=6867
The Square is decades old, and has become a cultural institution of the town and its surrounding area. Perhaps most importantly of all, it gives the youth of Harlow something to do, and genuinely helps to stimulate socialisation, creativity and community cohesion - this is not marketing nonsense, I speak as someone who has years of experience as a customer and would be gutted to see The Square go.
ECC are instituting new policies from the 8th April. A document passed on to us by a member of staff shows that they aim to prevent the sale of alcohol inside the building, stop youth work with young people (YPs) under the influence of drugs, including alcohol, and book bands only between the ages of 13-19; one of the representatives of the council even suggested to the staff that they might have to turn away people who were over 19 at the door.
This is clearly ridiculous. The only reason the council could have for showing such a sudden interest in this after decades is that the lease on the building runs out in summer 2008, and when asked about their plans for the building after this, they replied "no comment". The land is a prime location for housing, a car park, or some other form of development, as it is right in the centre of town.
Please help us to fight back against the Council's plans for profit at the expense of the youth. They have supplied no justification for their reasons to staff, and have prevented them from discussing it with customers; furthermore, ECC have been avoiding YPs' questions on the issue, such as claiming that the jurisdiction for this falls under Harlow Town Council, even though the document we received, which was shown to staff in the meeting with ECC's representatives, is clearly labelled "Essex County Council" on each page.
The Square never serves alcohol to underage YPs, and often refuses admission to YPs that it deems to be under the influence of drugs (including alcohol), whether they are underage or not, in line with its own policies. Its staff perform essential youth work with those under the influence of drugs, and its popularity with its target age range (13-19) is booming, so why do the Council need to make alterations that will only turn the Square into a commercially unsuccessful playground?
If you have been to the Square, or would like to lend us a hand in defending our community, please contact any of the below addresses with your thoughts...
The county councillors who are responsible for harlow are shown here...
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=14341&guideOid=14337&guideContentOid=14357 and the leader of the council is shown here... (Lord Hanningfield)
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=14341&guideOid=14337&guideContentOid=14354 and the chairman of the Children, Young People and Schools Policy Development Group is shown here... (J. Albridge)
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=14341&guideOid=14337&guideContentOid=14354 and this is contact information for Bill Rammell, Harlow's Member of Parliament...
http://www.harlow.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=6867
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