Support

Representation ID: 676

Received: 09/08/2010

Respondent: The Theatres Trust

We support the approach for enhancing the town centre and also the inclusion of sui generis use in the town centre (Table 2). The enhancement of your theatres will make a strong contribution to the character of the town and increase the experience of visiting the town as a tourist. A festival or summer season may be a crucial draw and bring major economic advantage but this will only be possible if suitable venues are available.
All theatre buildings are costly to run and maintain but with a diverse range of content and service providers, plus a range of audiences and users to reflect the wider community, it is possible to sustain the long term viability of your theatre buildings. It is also important to ensure that there is a robust policy requiring the replacement of an existing cultural facility where development would result in their loss. This is particularly so where land values could be higher for other uses. In our experience without such a policy it is impossible to negotiate a proper replacement arts facility. As such, it is something the Council should wish to protect through robust development management policies.