A RALLY to help secure the future of the Whitchurch Civic Centre was held outside Shirehall, the home of Shropshire Council on Thursday (May 9).

Four members of the Save Our Civic group, including current town councillor Gregory Ebbs and the town pirate Guy Hepworth, plus Steve Chapman and John Moore, positioned themselves outside the entrance to the building before a full Shropshire Council meeting.

Mr Ebbs, speaking on behalf of the group, said they received positive feedback for their cause while the town’s three Shropshire representatives – Cllrs Peggy Mullock, Gerald Dakin and Tom Biggins – all provided support.

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The centre faces an uncertain future because of the ongoing Raac crisis.

“It went really well,” he said.

“We stood outside Shirehall and anyone going into the meeting had to go past the four of us – me, Steve Chapman from Blackberry Fair, Guy Hepworth, the town pirate plus John Moore, who is a senior member of the group.

“We were joined by Cllrs Peggy Mullock and Gerald Dakin while Tom Biggins came by a little later on too.

“We stood outside Shirehall for an hour from 9.15am.

“There are 77 councillors on Shropshire Council and we think around half of them saw us as they had to come past us.

“Some of them came over to speak to us and overall it was quite positive – they said they faced similar issues in their towns and we wanted to be optimistic for the future.

“What we wanted to get across to them is how much the Civic Centre means to the people of Whitchurch and how important it is.

“We had councillors from Wem and Oswestry, who are our neighbouring towns, come over to see us and that’s helpful.”

With public consultation open on the six options put forward by the Civic Centre working party, Mr Ebbs added that public rallies of support will pick up in frequency in order to find the best options to fit the town.

He said: “Our next rally is on Saturday and then there will be one a week for the next five weeks while the public consultation is open.

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“We’re no longer looking for signatures for a petition but trying to get hard copies – around 700 – of the consultation out to people.

“We’re aiming to get them filled in when we’re out between 11am until 12.30pm on the Bullring and then we will get them taken to the library when needed.”

A brochure was also handed to councillors setting out the background to the rally and also listing the many community groups that use the Civic Centre.