Lib Dem Report on Camberley Theatre calls for Dramatic Shake Up (Surrey Heath Liberal Democrats

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Lib Dem Report on Camberley Theatre calls for Dramatic Shake Up

May 6, 2004 11:24 PM

The Camberley Theatre has cost Surrey Heath council tax payers over £7.7m in less than 10 years, and every visitor is subsidized by nearly £9 each time they attend a show. These are some of the findings of the Liberal Democrat's Working Party on the future of The Camberley Theatre, in a report published recently.

"Unsustainable" drain on Surrey Heath council taxpayers

The Council has committed itself to decide on new management arrangements for the theatre by the end of May, one of the few measurable targets in its corporate plan this year. The Council's Executive decided on 6th April that since they deemed the current arrangements were working well and was cost effective, no change should be made.

Liberal Democrat councillors, however, were unhappy with this conclusion, and have "called in" the decision for review by a Select Committee. They have also published their own report on the options for the future of The Camberley Theatre. In their research for this, they visited a number of local Theatres, and talked to other experts in this area. The report concludes that the level of subsidy enjoyed by The Camberley Theatre is unsustainable, and forms an excessive drain on Surrey Heath Borough Council which starves other initiatives of funding. Little scope for improvement is seen under the current management arrangements, and so the report recommends that the Theatre is either:

• Made part of the external management contract for the Borough's leisure centres, which is currently in process of being relet; or

• Set up as a Charitable Trust, preferably jointly with a group of other local authorities.

"Whilst we had little time to prepare this report, it was not difficult to get clear evidence that the financial position could be improved", said Bob Smith who chaired the working party that wrote the report." We were able to rapidly generate a number of options not even considered by the Executive, and found people very willing to talk to us about them".

John Faulkner, shadow portfolio holder for Resources said: "Whilst we believe that this change of management arrangements is necessary, we also believe that more radical options involving the relocation and redevelopment of the theatre on another site should be studied."

David Whitcroft, Lib Dem Group Leader said: "Our report shows the lack of imagination and complacency of the current Conservative administration in Surrey Heath. This waste is symptomatic of how this Council is run by the Tories."