Our choir sent this to our local MP and copied it to other MPs in the vicinity:

Throughout the year, our community choir (about 50 - 60 members)
performs a
variety of concerts on behalf of a variety of causes. We have sung at
Friend's of the Earth 'Green Day' at the Piece Hall in Halifax; Peace
concerts; May Day concerts; at the switching on of Hebden Bridge's
lights at
Christmas, amongst others.

We are an open choir - the only qualification is that you enjoy
singing. The
joy of singing, whatever you sound like, is something our choir, and
many
others like it, actively promote.

Last year, Calder Valley Voices hosted the National Street Choirs
Festival.
More than 500 singers, from over 30 choirs from around Britain joined
together in Hebden Bridge for what was generally agreed to have been
one of
the most successful festivals in its history. The event involves
singing
workshops in a variety of venues, concert performances, busking on the
streets, and a mass sing of all the choirs. The feedback we got from
the
people of Hebden Bridge was that it was a very enjoyable weekend;
wherever
they went around town on the Saturday, they came across different
groups
singing. It raised everyone's mood and the many visitors boosted the
town's
economy.

The festival is hosted in a different town or city every year; this
year it
is to be hosted by Rough Truffles from Belper.

The new Licensing Bill puts all this at risk - every choir is going to
have
to pay more for their practice spaces - as these will have to be
licensed
this will incur a cost inevitably passed on to user groups. Most groups
operate on a shoestring budget - all out of choir members' pockets;
their
very existence is threatened.

The performance spaces, workshops, massed singing and busking are all
at risk
because of this bill. The tourist and catering industries of future
hosts of
the festival will be affected.

We strongly urge you to take a stand against this miserable, joyless,
pernicious bill.

Thank you.