LAST week brought the news that the Government has announced the Grade II listing of the Piano Building. What an incredibly stupid decision.

The will of Kidderminster Civic Society, which represents no-one but its handful of members, has prevailed over that of the democratically-elected council and that of thousands of people who signed a pro-cinema petition.

The decision to list the Piano Building means saving a building which has a name that makes it sound in some way significant, perhaps important architecturally or as part of our industrial heritage.

It is neither of these. It has no special architectural merit and is no more important in terms of industrial heritage than thousands of other buildings.

It is, in fact, an eyesore and is now to be preserved at the expense of a cinema - something which could have been of immense benefit to the area.

Its piano shape is only visible from the air - some plus point!

What is clearly of no benefit to the area is Kidderminster Civic Society.

Its record is simply appalling. It fought to save the ornate, unattractive old library; it fought successfully to save another eyesore, the slum bombazine cottages, at the expense of the Horsefair development (a fight led by someone who promptly left the district, so that those of us who live here have to put up with this disaster, but he does not).

Now, it has successfully duped the Department of Culture into saving an unmeritorious building at the expense of what could have been an asset to this area.

Beware, beware - given their almost unbelievable record, it would not surprise me to hear someday that the civic society is claiming that Crown House should be preserved in aspic or declared an area of great natural beauty.

MEL HAYWARD

Granville Crest

Kidderminster