HUNDREDS have shared their anger with the BBC after a local DJ told Radio 4 listeners that Reading people didn’t care what happened to the gaol site.
The BBC Radio Berkshire breakfast show disc jockey stopped spinning discs to spin to appear on Friday’s Today programme in a slot devoted to news from the regions.
The campaign to see Reading Gaol turned into an arts centre, supported by the town’s two MPs, was one of the subjects that was brought up.
Coming just days after hundreds of people marched from The Hexagon to the Abbey Ruins to call for the empty site into an arts centre, Andrew Peach told the nationwide audience: “I don’t think people of Reading care that much what happens to the gaol.”
He also pointed out that it has been empty for a decade and said the site was “daubed with graffiti”.
“The council want it to be turned into an arts centre, but I think they want the government to give it to them … I think (the government) would rather sell it to a developer and turned into posh flats or something,” he said.
Among those who disagreed with this assessment is Toby Davies, artistic director for RABBLE Theatre, which will be performing an open-air production of Henry I in the shadow of the gaol this summer.
In an open letter shared on social media, he urged BBC Radio 4 to revisit the story “in a manner that is a little better informed than (he) achieved. Sadly, his statements were not only flippant, they were incorrect”.
The support for the gaol included a petition signed by 11,000 people, he added, also pointing out the graffiti was artwork by Banksy.
He has complained to the BBC, saying no counterpoint to the DJ’s views was given.
“It was an odd summary, given the show of support at the march just a few days before,” he said.
“People are desperate for the prison to be transformed into an international cultural destination and it’s disappointing that the MoJ continue to treat Reading with such disrespect.”
Among those voicing their disapproval on social media was one person who wrote: “I heard that. Was yelling at the radio. Idiot.”
Mr Davies said he had yet to receive a response from the BBC to his complaint, and the BBC had not responded to our request for a comment as we went to press.
