A rallying call has been issued to a Moray community to orchestrate a huge show of strength against the closure of a town hall.
The Longmore Hall in Keith will close at the end of June unless a viable group can be found to take on the running of the building.
The decision was made as part of the council’s budget process.
However, there has been anger locally after the much-loved building was included in final proposals, despite not being in the initial consultation process.
Now campaigners have organised a public meeting to discuss the future of the building – where The Beatles were once booked to play in 1963 before they had to cancel due to snow.
Keith and Cullen councillor Theresa Coull said: “People are understandably unhappy that the council has forced through the plans to shut it, despite there being next to no consultation with the community.
“It really is an important community facility. This public meeting will be the chance for its users to have their say over its future.
“It’s not acceptable for the halls to be closed and for communities to be abandoned like this. The council should look to suspend these closures, at the very least until proper support can be put in place.”
Last week it was revealed that council staff were currently swamped with applications to transfer the ownership of assets to community groups, with only eight of 20 groups with applications submitted getting support from officers.
The closure of Longmore Hall is expected to save the authority £14,000 next year as part of more than £6million worth of cuts.
It was opened in 1873 and is named after William Longmore, who was a banker and distiller in the area at the time and funded the building as a gift to the town.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead added: “It’s unacceptable to force the closure without the community having their say. We’ve arranged the meeting so that folk in Keith can come together to discuss the hall’s future and to look at how we can work together to save it.”
The meeting will take place on Monday, March 19 at 7pm in the hall.
