*Literal meaning warning*. Essentially +1 to the coments below though.
Should we not promote riding round the year?
No, Audax UK shouldn't. But it should facilitate it.
Whether individuals or clubs want to reward the dedication of riding around the year is a different matter. That differs from promoting it though.
Is AUK wrong to put on events during the winter months?
AUK doesn't put them on, individual organisers do. Whether organisers should or not is a matter for them. I'd support the right of (suitably experienced) organisers to put on events regardless of the time of year.
One thing I had on hand at my November 50/100s was a print out of the weather forecast that people could look at if they wanted. I also, based on experience, gave a little speech at the start warning the riders to expect ice/frost in the lanes that will tend to clear by lunchtime. All part of helping riders make an informed choice of whether to ride or not.
My one regret about that event was not providing either a partial refund or the possibility of doing the ride as a permanent (see below). My rationale at the time was that 50/100km events didn't matter in the scheme of things and the distribution of "profit" of £45 between 40 riders wasn't worthwhile, but now feel that was a poor decision on my part.
Should we have a close season, like the DATC (or CTC Tourist Competition?) from November-February?
Winter rides are not inherently dangerous. It is prevailing weather conditions that increase risk. So, no, a close season is not something I'd vote for.
Personally I think the flexibility shown on the Poor Student and Winter Solstice demonstrates a sensible, pragmatic way of dealing with this. Events are not cancelled but riders are given the flexibility to defer riding the event when weather conditions improve.
A possible criteria for Winter events might be that the organiser must be willing to offer this flexibility, subject to authorisation from the AUK events secretary, and events must be organised (or at least be encourage to be organised) with this possibility in mind. For example, had bad weather more adversely affected the Hills and Mills 100km event, it would not have been possible to ride it as a perm (due to use of checkpoints on the event) without the use of infos (which could have been submitted by the organiser). But even with such an initiative, I suspect caution would be needed in order to avoid the responsibility of omitting to do something (i.e. omitting to offer an alternative date).
What about Perms?
Given these offer the most flexibility, I see even less justification for these being kaboshed over the winter months. That said, one of the bits of beauraucracy that slightly jars with me is the "requirement" to inform the organiser when you intend to ride when this is very much weather dependent and makes no difference to the organiser (certainly not to me on my perms). A minor irritant though, as no doubt the "safety" brigade have their motivations.
