I was extremely saddened to read the report in last week's Guardian regarding the future of the Parr Hall.

As chairman of CODYS, Warrington's leading youth theatre and a society who has recently transferred our productions to The Brindley in Runcorn, I once again find myself asking the question when will Warrington Borough Council take the arts seriously?

We staged the first night of our current production last night at The Brindley and played to a full house, in a venue that Halton Borough Council and its residents should be extremely proud of. I lost count of the members of the audience who said that it was nothing less than criminal that Warrington's young people should have to travel to Runcorn to perform to a Warrington audience.

The experience that our members gained from working on a professional stage with the associated infrastructure, is one that not many young people will have the opportunity to achieve in their lives and Warrington Borough Council should be ashamed that this cannot be achieved within their own borough.

The nearest thing Warrington had to a working theatre was the Derek Newton Theatre. Where were the council's objections when Chester University deprived Warrington of its last theatre? How was that allowed to happen?

And now the future of the Parr Hall is in question. The Parr Hall is by no means a theatre, however, if we could have met the excessive hire charges I do not believe we would have moved our productions to Runcorn. Two months ago, I attended a meeting along with representatives from other societies within Warrington, where we were presented with plans for a major refurbishment to the Parr Hall, which would not necessarily give us the venue we would ideally want, but went some way towards addressing the many concerns. I assume that this is now in jeopardy and we will be left, once again, with no suitable venue.

I believe that the time has come for the council to make a stand and prove to the people of Warrington that it does value the arts.

A public consultation should be held to discuss this inexcusable position and give Warrington people the opportunity to comment directly to the people who have the power. The people of Warrington should make a stand and lobby their MP, councillors and council leaders and let it be known that we feel extremely let down by the council and facilities in Warrington.

We are a Warrington society, with young people from Warrington performing to an audience from Warrington. Why then cannot we perform in Warrington?

Nick Cupit CODYS chairman Great Sankey