I WRITE, as secretary and on behalf of Christchurch Country market, to convey our shock and dismay as to how the proposed imminent closure of our town’s Druitt Hall was so rudely and abruptly implemented, without consultation, by Christchurch Borough Council’s leader, Councillor Ray Nottage, to his town’s people.

We are sure many of Christchurch’s residents along with our market’s members and customers were shocked with the way the announcement was made by Councillor Nottage via his online blog.

Druitt Hall was built in 1953 by the then Hampshire Old Peoples’ Welfare and Housing Society, (now Christchurch Housing Society), to commemorate the Queen’s Coronation and is still used today, despite a poor state of repair, by many local people. Founded in 1982 Christchurch Country Market has used the Druitt Hall every Monday morning since 1997 for the sale of our homemade, home baked, and home grown produce on a co-operative basis to a large and growing number of customers. Most of these are elderly and rely on us for buying home cooked meals, savouries and puddings to supplement their weekly diet.

If the hall goes there is no other centrally located venue in the town that we could use, meaning the closure of a much-loved community market facility.

Whilst we understand that the hall is in need of a lot of work, (maybe beyond repair) and that everyone is short of money, we feel aggrieved that the hall, which is being relinquished by Christchurch Housing Society to Christchurch Borough Council in December, will be demolished by the council, apparently without any consideration being given to the current hall users’ needs or suggestions as to procuring alternative accommodation.

This seems to be yet another instance of local enterprise threatened by closure to enable the council to carry out it’s wishes without asking the community how they would like a piece of land, (that was left to the community), to be best utilised.

We hope our market can be saved and continue to thrive somewhere in the town. A petition is available, for anyone who wishes to support us, to sign at our market in Druitt Hall on Monday mornings between 9.30am and 11.30am.

KAREN PIGOTT (Secretary), Stony Lane, Burton, Christchurch