Loose Music Collective is a community group that is open to anyone involved in making music.

There are many valuable people involved in Loose, who have a great deal of expertise and experience.

Loose wants to develop The Queens Hall Studio as a Music Centre - a great live music venue for both local and touring musicians, rehearsal space, recording facilities, film-making, U18s' events. We are willing to work with other groups in the community. Loose, a not for profit community group, is not asking Halton Council for any more 'help' than the council will be giving to Marmalade, a commercial profit-making business.

Loose's proposal is viable - anyone can look at our proposal and business plan, and Loose has been successfully active for over eight years.

We find it hard to understand why both our proposal, and another group's have been said to be 'unsustainable' yet that other group is the one that Marmalade intend to give the building to!

The difference? Loose will provide a much needed facility unique in Halton for which there is a need and strong support, and the other group proposes to hold drama classes, poetry workshops and other activities already being well catered for in the community and in the purpose-built Brindley Arts Centre!

Our proposal would benefit so many people including musicians of all ages. Our development of The Queens Hall Studio would also put Widnes on the touring circuit for national and international bands.

We have a £9 million arts centre for theatre, drama and dance workshops, and arts exhibitions - why not give us the opportunity to have a great live music venue as well? The Queens Hall Studio has been boarded up, with a leaking roof, for a year. If the council allows Loose to develop The Queens Hall Studio, it risks losing nothing, and Halton will gain so much. It's time for the council to show it's an Investor In People.

Jaki Florek

(Project

Co-coordinator, Loose Music Collective)