It has been brought to our attention that a meeting, billed as a “debate”, re the future of Chester’s Amphitheatre has been organised by Chris Matheson, MP. This gathering is to be held on 30th August 2016, despite key representatives of the 11,000 plus supporters of the ‪#‎DigUpDeva‬ campaign clearly stating that they were unable to attend any events on this date. First and foremost, the #DigUpDeva campaign was set up to provide a voice to the people of Chester regarding the future of the Amphitheatre site, with the petition for a request for a public consultation on the matter being started after it became apparent that the land above was to be subjected to a 150 year lease to developers as yet unknown. Our next step is to attend the CWAC Council meeting being held on 8th of September 2016. It is here that we intend to hand over our petition, to date sporting over 11,200 signatures which continue to grow by the 100's each day, and to put across our request for a proper period of public consultation on the future of the Amphitheatre. It is our belief that the debate being held a week prior to this meeting will give Councillors opposed to the petition a case to vote against the public consultation, citing that a debate on the matter has already taken place. The fact that Chris Matheson MP is chairing the gathering lends weight to it being held in an official capacity, despite #DigUpDeva representatives, one side of the entire debate, being unable to attend. The representatives of the 11,200 signees of the #DigUpDeva petition fully support the need for a public debate on this issue and whilst we commend Chris Matheson MP for his eagerness to hold a public forum on the matter, we believe that Chester Amphitheatre is worthy of a well publicised, open discussion, where a panel of experts representing ALL parties are available to answer questions from the general public. A postponement of the debate will not only negate any worries that a premature forum will negatively affect any chance of putting a strong case forward on 8th of September, but there is also the simple fact that many of the key representatives from #DigUpDeva are unable to attend on 30th August due to prior commitments, with organisers of the event being informed of this before any dates for a gathering were announced. Chester Archaeological Society representatives have also requested a postponement to the debate requesting it be held AFTER their talk on the Amphitheatre which is to be held on 4th September, with Tony Wilmott, speaker on the 4th and the Historic England Co Director of the ongoing Amphitheatre Research Project also stating that he "welcome[s] this postponement". If the debate is truly being held to openly discuss the matter and properly present both sides of the argument then a simple postponing until after 8th of September will ensure all sides are well prepared and able to attend. We, the representatives of #DigUpDeva therefore appeal to Chris Matheson MP to postpone this gathering until after CWAC Council’s meeting on the 8th of September, and instead hold this debate as part of a full and fair period of public consultation.