IS it just me who thinks the £1.5m that Durham County Council wants to spend on Bishop Auckland Town Hall is a waste of public money?

What is wrong with the town hall? Inside, the building is fine. The auditorium is able to accommodate many different activities such as theatre, comedy, cinema, lectures, weddings, dances etc.

There is the bar with scope perhaps for a bit of updating.

The booking office and library work well with computers available for the public.

The gallery space already has a focal point for local art, and we have the new mining art gallery where we can see Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish’s wonderful art at most times.

The outside of our town hall is striking, so no work is needed there.

The theatre does need a fully working loop system and possibly some fresh decoration, but to spend £1.5m on it is a complete waste.

The inconvenience of this being done throughout the autumn and winter is terrible.

There will be no Hilarity Bites, no Christmas pantomimes, no dances, no plays, no music nights – just another empty building in our Market Square for months on end.

I for one will really miss the town hall being closed.

The council pleads poverty one minute and then the next is wasting public money on unnecessary expense.

Barbara Bell, Bishop Auckland