Dear John & Richard I am writing further to my e mail to you of 3rd November in which I outlined a number of on-going concerns regarding the operation of the Pavilion by PACL. Since then of course we now know from the press statement that PACL put out on 9th November that the cinema will now NOT re-open ( apart from as an occasional pop-up). This is a huge blow to the people of Penarth especially as PACL themselves had been until recently responding publicly that it would be opening again soon. 1)What has happened in the past few weeks to change this ( we understand the member of staff who used to run the cinema has now left the employment of PACL)? 2) Why has neither PACL nor any other stakeholder engaged with the local community over this decision – clearly a decision that the people of Penarth do not want ( although I have done nothing to actively promote the petition I set up to campaign for the cinema not to close in recent months, there are now almost 2000 names on it ( https://www.change.org/p/tony-hazell-keep-penarth-pier-pavilion-cinema-open?lang=en-GB ) 3) Why are the people of Penarth not entitled to a full explanation from PACL as to why the cinema won’t re-open despite the swell of public support? 4) Given the nature of the Pavilion as a wholly grant funded community asset then if the reason why the cinema is not re-opening is as a direct consequence of the debt owed to the Independent Cinema Office ( who distributed the films etc) then surely the people of Penarth are owed a full explanation and an opportunity to discuss this further with both PACL and yourselves as key stakeholders to find a positive way forward? 5) In terms of the new Volunteer Co-ordinator post at the Pavilion I assume this is funded through the last HLF grant. That being so I understand the post should have been filled through open recruitment and widespread advertising of the job. Can you confirm how and where the post was advertised? 6)PACL say that ‘The Pavilion has rapidly become ‘the venue of choice’ for many commercial activities, including weddings, family parties, musical events and business meetings’. If this is to be the new focus then why does the organisation need such large capital and revenue funding to compete with privately funded local operators eg Holm House. From my understanding this is NOT what Lottery money should be used for. Surely this would be more acceptable if the most important public service was retained ( ie the cinema). PACL has continued to completely disengage from the very community here in Penarth it relies on for business. Surely the time is well overdue for some accountability here and an opportunity for local residents to talk to yourselves, the HLF and indeed PACL to get some clarity? If PACL no longer wish to operate the cinema then clearly they need to hand it over to another operator who will be able to run it as it should be. Just down the road from us in Penarth we have both Chapter and the Tramshed who both successfully run small independent cinemas not to mention of course the Memo in Barry. Whilst I understand you will not be keen on an open public meeting the very least we should expect is a meeting with local interest organisations & individuals? I look forward to hearing from you? Yours Sincerely Andrew Jones