SADLY, the Conservative run county council have ignored the public and have transferred the Tower to Kings'. Their own survey showed that the vast majority wanted the Tower to remain as is, 17 per cent favouring the transfer to Kings' School.

Councillor Thornber had no answer to the good arguments from the campaign team, so they were simply ignored in his summary.

Ultimately it was a vindictive decision. He retreated from an offer to use the reduced funding to support the evening programme exclusively at the Tower. The funding will be used in a programme described by the Art Officer as "not having a huge amount of detail because there was not enough time''.

Well, that's exactly the point! They should have recommended more time to allow for this to be clarified. They have displayed a wanton disregard for community art and the public, also evidenced by their abject failure to obtain any legal commitments from Kings'. A bit like me giving you my house for no money and letting you do what you like with it.

Winchester should be competing with Salisbury and Chichester where performing arts is taken seriously. With two universities that specialise in Art, Winchester is ideally placed to create a centre of excellence to drive the creative industries, the fastest growing sector of the economy, generating significant wealth in Hampshire.

Councillor Thornber disputed the view that this is the end of the Tower as an Arts centre. It will be managed by the school without professional art management staff. Staffing will be cut from six to two, with no curated programme, marketing or box office.

Is a school still a school after you have removed the teaching staff, transferred the building to the local art centre and torn up the curriculum?

I will be watching carefully how the summer programme is put together.

If they are serious about it, we should hear in mid February what they intend to put on.

I hope that I am wrong and that it remains an arts centre. Councillor Thornber and the Conservatives' reputations rest on this.

ALISTAIR MARSDEN, Winchester.