Once again the Theatre Royal in Margate is in crisis and is looking to the entertainment world to bail them out. What is not mentioned in the story in Fridays paper is the fact that yet again they have gone cap in hand to Thanet Council to bail them out. Observer hears that in the absence of the Chairman of the Council, Cllr Geoff Kirkpatrick his deputy, Cllr 'Shirley Temple' Tomlinson has approved a further sum of £7,500 to keep them afloat for another few weeks. This is despite the fact that TDC agreed the following:-
"
i)
To ensure the Theatres short-term future a sum equal to 25% of the total grant be paid immediately pending the Consultants report; and
(ii)
A further report be submitted to the Panel after the Theatre Royals Consultants report is published in order that the remainder of the grant can be determined.
However, since this decision was made it has come to light that £25,000 of the grant has already been made to the Theatre Royal in accordance with previous yearsÂ’ practice (50% in April and 50% in September).
In light of this, Cabinet is recommended to approve that::
(i)
To ensure the Theatres short-term future the sum paid equal to 50% of the total grant be approved pending the Consultants report; and
(ii)
A further report be submitted to the Executive and Policy Scrutiny Panel after the Theatre Royals Consultants report is published in order that the remainder of the grant can be determined.
"
( Note the cock up!! )
So the Councils Scrutiny Panel had recommended that £12,500 of the grant be paid immediatly with a decision on the remainder to be taken on receipt of the Consultants report, Observer is told that this is now well overdue!!
Thanet Council paid over £25,000 in May,
KCC gave grant in a similar amount,,
In August they were back asking for another £7,500
They have had income as well during this time so the questions need to be asked,,
how are they managing to spend well in excess of £20,000 a month?
should TDC continue to support a sinking ship?
how many Thanet residents benefit from the continued existence of the Theatre Royal?
1 comment:
"Should TDC continue to support a sinking ship?"
The Theatre Royal is and should remain an asset to Thanet,And while I agree that the amount of money spent on it is rather large do not forget that £8,000,000 has been spent on the Turner con-job
with nothing to show for it.
The main problem with any theatre is get in and get out times which limits the amount of shows per month that can be put on which reduces income.
Something I have noticed is that there are a lot of Charity Shows
which cannot be good for the theatres income, Charity should begin at home so money must be made to cover running costs.
The Theatre has a small dedicated staff and they need as much support as they can get,Turner has a much larger,better paid staff but not much is said about that.
Advertising the shows better would help as well,because some people do not even know where it is or what is being presented.
The Theatre must not be allowed to fail or we will lose yet another first rate venue, which would not only be a loss to the people of Thanet but to the country as well!
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