A rousing round of applause greeted an announcement last night that the Rose Theatre will receive a £600,000 a year subsidy from Kingston Council.
However the Conservatives have already called in the decision which will now be scrutinised by the opposition at a meeting next Tuesday.
Supporters of the theatre including vice-chairman of the theatre trust, Robin Hutchinson and trustee Frank Whately, filled the Guildhall to hear the Liberal Democrat executive ratify plans to subsidise the theatre in exchange for a package of community activities.
Leader of Kingston Council, Councillor Derek Osbourne, said: “What I have been clear about is that the council did not want to get into a situation where we offered a grant in a direct subsidy to the theatre and just hand over a cheque.
“We have put together a finance package in exchange for services.”
In exchange for the funding the theatre will provide 20,000 tickets for local school children, host a youth theatre festival next year and offer six days of educational activities co-ordinated by Kingston Music and Arts Service as well as open up the theatre to the community.
Coun Osbourne said the option to fund the theatre for £600,000 a year or spend £450,000 in the first year alone to close it, was a “no-brainer”.
“We can have a theatre providing lots of community access for £600,000 or a boarded up theatre for £450,000. I think it’s a no-brainer.”
Despite the Conservatives keeping silent about the theatre during the meeting last night, they have vowed to rigorously interrogate the proposals at the scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, December 16.
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