Save the Loft

NEWCASTLE— One hundred people rallied outside the Newcastle Council Chamber on April 29 to show support for the Loft, a Council-sponsored youth venue.

In the nine years it has been operating, the Loft has provided thousands of young people with access to creative and art resources. Right-wing councillors want to close it down to cut costs.

Zane Alcorn, Socialist Alliance candidate for Lord Mayor in the 2008 council election, ran on a campaign platform that included support for the Loft. He told Green Left Weekly the right-wing councillors' anti-youth agenda include ripping up the rail line into Newcastle, closing down skate parks, making scapegoats of graffiti artists, and now, closing the Loft.

From GLW issue 793