Disgust at STEAM event cancellation

Dear Adver,

I would like to express my disgust at the XTC conference being cancelled at STEAM this weekend. This event has attracted hundreds of visitors. many of whom made long journeys from the USA.

The council mentions the Radio 2 event as an excuse, but this was outdoors and just after the Queens death. This event is more than a week afterwards.

The council also talks about music and noise. I live in the flats nearby and not once have we had an issue with noise from Steam.

Though I note after three years of asking the council, we still do not have proper plastic recycling capability.

Clearly SN2 is not high in the councils list of priorities. If there was a noise issue why were local neighbours not even consulted?

The council has also clearly not considered the effect this will have in terms of lost revenue in nearby pubs and hospitality venues. The area nearby is one of the poorest in Swindon and desperately needed the money the conference attendees would spend.

Now it is all going to Old Town which already has the Swindon Shuffle and Open-door events going on there this weekend.

The Conservative Party talks about levelling up, yet we see people struggling to get by in leasehold properties in areas like SN2, massive inequalities in life expectancy inside Swindon and now this, which seems like a deliberate attack on SN2.

I fully understand that respect is due to the Queen after her long reign but the council using this as an excuse to stop this event and cancelling all scrutiny meetings this week using the same excuse is unacceptable.

The Queen herself would have been dismayed if she had seen these kinds of measures being taken and using her death as an excuse for them.

Regards,

Jonathan Sheldrake

Priam House,

Rodbourne

A stupid and arrogant decision

So they've done it again.

Our Tory overlords in Swindon Borough Council have once more made this town a laughing stock by deciding to cancel a long planned XTC Convention which was due to take place in the Steam building on Friday and Saturday.

Words (almost) fail me at the arrogance and stupidity of this decision, especially as they gave the organisers less than 48 hours notice.

On behalf of our town, I feel I should apologize to the many XTC fans who have come to Swindon from all points of the UK, as well as Europe, America and Japan, only to discover that they now have no venue for their convention, at the behest of our Conservative councillors.

"The Palace" made it perfectly clear that no sporting or cultural events need to be cancelled before or after the Queen's funeral, just a polite request not to clash with it.

Apparently Councillor Renard and his merry band of flag waving zombies know better.

Michael Rivers

BBC scheduling complaints

An open letter to the BBC , not that anyone will respond .

During the current saturation coverage of all aspects of the sad demise of HM The Queen, I fully understand that certain programmes, perhaps aesthetically unsuitable etc, will not be broadcast.

What I do not understand though, is why certain programmes are shown others, illogically, are not. Why take off say, Pointless (new series) and replace that with a 2018 repeat of a repeat of a repeat. I will be paying my 2023 licence fee with a repeat of my 2022. cheque .

Rodney Wirdnam