As chairman of the Civic Society I attend many meetings and always the Futurist topic stimulates much debate.

This issue seems to divide the people of Scarborough with many thinking that it should be retained as a theatre and others thinking that it is a wreck of a building which needs to be demolished.

But what is Scarborough Borough Council planning for this building? We have seen front page stories in the Evening News asking our council to simply reveal their plans for this site but it seems that they cannot be pushed into stating their policy.

I will not go into the arguments for and against the Futurist; many others have already stated these, but I am swayed by the fact that when you are in the auditorium at the Futurist it is a wonderful entertainment space and this facility should be valued and not simply left to rot.

If the council believes that it will be good management of the town's properties to leave an empty derelict building on the Foreshore from 2011 we need to ask them to justify this plan.

I understand from Cllr Dilys Cluer, vice-chairman of Cor-porate Strategy Overview and Scrutiny Committee, that the Futurist issue will be on the agenda of the January 20th meeting of that committee.

Can we ask that our council officers marshall their thoughts on this subject and present them at this meeting (without excluding the public when the Futurist is discussed) and let the people of Scarborough know what course of action they are planning?

Adrian Perry
Chairman
Scarborough and District Civic Society