Final words and thanks - submission of Petition on Monday.

I really hope you don’t mind if I write my final tome on this and invite people to sign the petition before it is submitted next week. This petition is directly relevant to the Mechanics’, as a Carriage Works SMAG across the road could be introduced in affordable chunks. It would boost the area, and also keep Heritage Lottery Funds free for the MI. As even members of the SMAG team have admitted, the art and artefacts are not at risk thus far – I so wish we could say this of the MI! To date, £1 million has been spent to develop what seems to be about a 12th of the whole Carriage Works site. Look at the petition facebook page to see the photos inside this rejuvenation-- it looks like a fantastic place for art to be displayed now that section has been done up! And its location near the bus and train stations is great. Petitioners have been criticised heartily for not have fully-costed estimations (get real – we do not have the £10,000s spent thus far that the new build team have, nor the SBC contacts, nor the media support!) – however, the costings thus far on the Carriage speak for themselves. It is doable, and it is doable gradually. Historically, it has been discussed and seen as feasible since the 1980s. The self-sustainability of the Carriage Works is enormous, considering its size and how it could be gradually developed to house both the art and rent-paying business and artistic units – thus leaving potentially finite HLF money free for the Mechanics’. Really it is ludicrous to think we’ll get two inordinately enormous bids in the same town – and to date no-one has been able to prove otherwise. The MI needs the HLF money the most – this is so evident . The ‘we can have both’ argument is patently unproven. As for if the other heritage people agree with it -- sadly many (but not all) of them officially do. As, sadly, do many of the councillors -- officially. There is a lot riding on this for many of these people. For some people, they perceive they will lose their jobs if the new-build SMAG does not happen. When I met two well-known heritage people early this year when seeking out heritage people to gauge their support (or otherwise) as the petition started, they both told me that they a) they were backing the bid b) they did not think the bid would be successful but c) in the meantime, it gave them a lot of leverage with SBC to get support for their projects. There was a lot of eye-rolling and negativity about the MI Trust and their efforts to save the MI – I found this rather shocking. It is thus ironic to me now to hear these same people and other heritage people in Swindon play a high-and-mighty game of ‘How dare you question our superior knowledge?’, flouncing off of other forums when anyone dares to disagree with them, then trying to discredit the whole petition because of one or two rude ‘loose cannon’ comments, and carping about the very few forums where the petition or anti new-build voices are allowed. Similarly, I have had some councillors tell me -- off the record of course! - that they need to toe the party line but agree with the use of the Carriage Works for SMAG. I have had a reliable Forward Swindon contact confirm that they advised SBC to use the Carriage Works -- as it made good sense -- but SBC flatly refused. The pro SMAG peeps constantly avoid the issues of why the Carriage Works was not considered – the old argument that ‘SBC didn’t own it’ is a duff one, as neither do/did they own the MI. Does anyone believe that the acquisition of the CWs from Network Rail came completely out of the blue this year? Hilarious, if it were not so serious a case of blatant manipulation and misleading of both the SMAG team and the general public. The CWs were always a contender for a SMAG – and they could look brilliant! I feel it was deliberately and cynically ignored because SBC could not see beyond their fixed business interests and outdated model of what the town centre ‘should’ be. A town centre needs a good core of independent shops, a market etc... not a huge art gallery and museum. Rejuvenation could be much more effective on a lower, more sensible scale. We could do with a concert hall -- which would fit well where the new-build SMAG is planned. Anyway, if anyone is still reading – thank you! I have said my piece and will be glad when I can return to normal life after this petition. Doubtless I will be blamed, and the Save Swindon’s Heritage page will be blamed if this bid falls flat on its face. But we have been appealing for a rethink and a renegotiation for the best part of this year, and so much was flawed in the whole consultation process too early on -- later public engagement events cannot heal this. The bid should be scrapped and a new bid for the MI put in next year. Ana