On Friday, the Evesham Regal, who are currently running the cinema pilot at the Unicorn Theatre, wrote to the Town Council with an offer to rent the Abbey Hall. The aim would be to run cinema and live events for the period until the Town Council decide what they want to do with the Abbey Hall. If you are interested in knowing more about the type of facility they run, their website is www.theregal.ac The Council have not yet had time to offer any response. We think it is good news that a serious offer is on the table that would return the Abbey Hall to public use. Fingers crossed that the Town Council will view this positively. Also a reminder that we have the public meeting on the Guildhall tomorrow (monday) night at 7pm in the Roysse Room. We hope you will be able to attend and share your views with the Council. With the permission of Sue and Ian Wiper who run the Evesham Regal, the text of their offer appears below: "For the attention of the Abingdon on Thames Town Clerk and Town Councillors By email and registered post Dear Sirs, Proposal to rent the Guildhall for cinema and live events We are currently showing films at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon on Thames, with the support of the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society. We are writing with an offer to rent the Guildhall, subject to the necessary permissions, for the purpose of showing films and live events, on commercial terms which will make a significant positive contribution to the council’s finances. In 2016 we tendered plans to the council under the Abingdon Guildhall and Cinema Improvement Plan which was subsequently abandoned. We approached the council again to revisit the Guildhall possibility and were directed to the district council, with whom are in discussions regarding the Charter development as a possible long-term solution. We understand that in the meantime the town council’s alternative plans have now stalled and that the Guildhall is about to be referred to the OCC places review. Given this is likely to take a while to reach a conclusion, we have a proposal for the reopening of the Abbey Hall for the period until a long term decision is made. The reason for our approach at this time is that the Unicorn has limited space and we are experiencing high demand for tickets. Our arrangement with the Friends of Abingdon is for a initial trial period and while we hope that this will be continued, in any event we require additional capacity Our plan for the Guildhall is to invest in and install state of the art projection and audio-visual equipment and a big retractable screen which we would remove at the end of our tenancy. We would also invest and install at our expense luxury seating. We would require only the new parts of the Guildhall for our purposes namely Abbey Hall, the bar and the kitchen. We understand that building work will be ongoing in the old buildings over the summer and have taken this into account. We have shared our proposals with the Friends of Abingdon and supporters of our plans for our permanent cinema in Abingdon and with the district council. We would like to meet with the council to explore our offer and to discuss terms. Yours sincerely, Sue Wiper The Regal Evesham"