Petition updateRestore Swindon's heritage buildings for the new Art Gallery and Museum.

Only one outlet avoiding media censorhip!

Swindon Art Gallery Action Group
Nov 3, 2017 — https://www.mixcloud.com/Talk_of_the_Town/talk-of-the-town-hour-2-1-11-17/ I cannot add this as a URL for some reason, but Dave Woods of Radio Swindon 105.5 has been the only person of late to give this petition any kind of coverage. The interview with me is approximately 16 minutes into the recording. Sorry, but I'm a little tongue-tied with some points and forgot to add: 1) how much more sustainable a Carriage Works location would be, with the income from co-existing prestige business units going into the pot, 2)the risk to Victorian buildings such as The Riflemans, which may be destroyed to get anything like easy footfall to the cut off Princes Street SMAG location, and 3) details of the hidden SBC costs to make the SMAG bid work, such as c. £17 million spent already to knock down a carpark on and the rebuild of a new carpark nearby: as the planned SMAG location has slightly moved to a location not where the old car park was -- and how this was wasted money, In spite of this interview, the media coverage is largely sewn-up with the pro new-build SMAG argument, with one key local journalist making it clear that he personally does not support this petition and is not willing to give it airtime in case it scuppers this bid. He is not alone. Even an editorial recently criticising the SMAG bid makes no mention of the petition. Strange. Giving no credit to a petition that (digitally and on paper) has reached over 2000 with only social media advertising amounts to a BLACKOUT of substantial public opinion and an attempt to present more public support than that which exists in reality. So, one local journalist justifies blackout by saying the petition Facebook page has less than 200 followers -- that he ignores that fact over 2000 signatures gained only from an older lady collecting signatures in town for 2 days and an online petition speaks volumes re. media bias. Note that the SMAG Facebook page -- for all the massive publicity -- has only over 400 names. The SMAG bid have funded huge numbers of local stalls in the last two months and paid for postcards, videos etc... in addition to its vast media coverage. Yet look at any of the mass of public concerns on any of the news reports which 'sell' the SMAG new-build bid. These comments are massively against the bid. All the names and details on the petition can be checked as valid and unduplicated -- I trust the same can be said for the SMAG counting system. But of course, the best thing would be a referendum/fair public vote given that the whole project was presented as a fait accomplis to the majority of Swindon, only this year. Ana
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