Since the fire at Saxmundham station in February 2018, The Art Station has been lobbying Greater Anglia about the future of the station building, and liaised with SCDC and Saxmundham Town Council but no progress was made on a commitment to re-building or connecting with The Art Station project.
On Friday 2 November, a meeting was held with Greater Anglia, SCDC, Saxmundham Town Council and Dr Therese Coffey – the Art Station was not invited or consulted on this.
At the meeting Greater Anglia put forward a plan for the station – to restore the station as a one-storey and improve the car park. Although we are very disappointed that the station won’t become a creative hub as we hoped and planned, we are relieved that it will not be demolished.
In the meantime, The Art Station is close to securing alternative space in central Saxmundham to develop a creative hub for artists, makers and tech developers, with exhibition space and community arts education programmes.