Reading Gaol Bid Fails

Published: May 18, 2021

We’re pretty disheartened to hear that the Ministry of Justice has rejected Reading Borough Council’s bid for the Gaol. Having offered a restrictive 3-month period of exclusivity on Christmas Eve, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the MoJ then never approached Reading’s lead councillors, never spoke to us and have now opted to favour profit over culture!

It’s true that it was frustrating not to be in the core team of people making the bid, but given that this was just an initial pitch we understand the rationale behind RBC’s thinking.

We will now go away and chat with all those who have lent their support to the campaign so far and update as soon as possible.

At a time when we ourselves are struggling massively with a lack of a base, we could have done with slightly better news.

Reading Gaol