[meersbrook-house] re publicity

Nick Roscoe nick at nickroscoe.com
Tue Aug 19 02:06:30 GMT 2014


I've been away, thought I had caught up with the emails but this last one
about press releases, representatives and interviews seems a departure from
where I thought we were at.  I don't think it would be good timing to do
these now.

I thought Liz's wording was a good basis for a leaflet in so far as it
pointed out the concerns that residents have - it puts people in the
picture.  60 people turned up to that first meeting after very little
publicity. My impression was that this was mostly on the back of concerns
for the future of Meersbrook Hall and the possibility that SCC might sell
off this chunk of Meersbrook Park - a public asset, ignoring the
restrictive covenants.  I've been meaning to suggest some wording for that
and will do.   Leaflets- thicker ones are easier to deliver!  (A5 160gsm
would be my choice)  I've used Solopress for leaflet lots of times - not
the cheapest, but fast and reliable.    For a domain name I think
www.meersbrookhall.org.uk should definitely be bagsied   Facebook Page
rather than group - but again, maybe these decisions can wait for now and
we should just focus on the meeting.

To return to the  'self selected group' thing - I think Cate was perfectly
entitled to say this.  I relayed this comment because it focusses attention
on the need for us to put locals in the picture and to record a full and
clear expression of the local reaction to the prospect of the sale of
Meersbrook Hall. There needs to be no doubt about local opinion and no
chance of it being misrepresented.

Once/if a public consultation is announced things would be quite progressed
and it will probably be too late to change the views of decision makers.
 They are weighing things up now with Meersbrook Hall and the fate of this
building and twenty or so other pieces of land and property are also now
being determined.  We can be aiming to talk constructively now with SCC and
it's representatives,  we should get as many 'Friends of Meersbrook Hall'
as possible and the aims and objs they sign up to support should reject the
sale to private interests of part of a public part, a public asset, given
to the people of Sheffield on condition it remains their property.  On the
other hand, as has been discussed, our aims and objs should project a
positive vision for the future of the Hall with the Friends working
together with SCC

I think the ideal scenario in the short term is we persuade SCC to postpone
the Parks Dept move out of the building, to give this group a chance to get
its act together and form viable proposals.  I believe that should be our
target for now, and once we have a substantial membership signed up to
robust aims and objectives, and a decent management committee, then we are
in a stronger position to begin asking for that. This can be done
discretely without the need for local press coverage which always has the
potential to stir things up where politics is concerned.  We need the
support of locals and that can be established by leafleting and the public
meeting. We also want the support of local Councillors and I think that is
best achieved by not shouting until we need to.  Also, you only get so many
shots with press releases - better to wait until there is something more
news worthy and there is a management committee and a clearer direction.

Nick


On 19 August 2014 00:20, Joyce M Bullivant <1duckweed at live.co.uk> wrote:

> Can I have the exact wording for papers etc so I can distribute including
> what contact details I give with it to be published.  Also if someone wants
> to do an interview who will be spokesperson and do interview?
>
> I just want to be absolutely sure I have everything correct before
> forwarding it on.
>
> Joy Bullivant
>
> _______________________________________________
> meersbrook-house mailing list
> meersbrook-house at email-lists.org
> https://www.email-lists.org/mailman/listinfo/meersbrook-house
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.email-lists.org/pipermail/meersbrook-house/attachments/20140819/d7acf21c/attachment.html>


More information about the meersbrook-house mailing list