Last Wednesday (26 July) evening’s Full Council meeting may have been the final act for the new theatre and civic complex project. It also drew attention to an overlooked, but predictable and unnecessary, threat to one of the town’s largest employers. Save Our Park! would like to thank those who turned out on that wet evening. We would also like to apologise to those who were unable to watch the debate. With the public gallery and chamber filled half an hour before the start of the meeting, more than 50 people were turned away. This was a clear demonstration of the strength of opposition to building a theatre and office block on the western edge of Calverley Grounds. Councillor Jukes, the Council Leader and driving force behind this plan, has re-energised the search for a suitable site for a replacement for the Assembly Hall Theatre by declaring that if someone could show a better site, he’d build it there. We commend Mr Jukes for this courageous stance. However, even if it takes a while to agree on an alternative site, this plan seems to have been dealt a mortal blow by Hoopers’ public statement on Wednesday afternoon that it considers any arrangement to share its car park with the theatre to be an “existential threat” to its store. It looks like it’s the theatre or Hoopers, but not both. If you feel strongly about this threat to Hoopers and its place in the town, even if you don’t shop there, you should let your councillors know. The GHCP theatre plan is in its death throes. Its passing brings relief to the thousands of us objecting to it, and it gives us all a welcome second chance to explore options that have been too quickly dismissed and others that haven’t been considered at all. Our petition has galvanised the public spirit of thousands of local people who care about this town. Let’s keep that energy flowing and keep reminding our councillors that they have to do more than just listen to our voices if they want to retain our votes. Save Our Park!