Lyme Regis: Town council to inject £32,000 of taxpayers' cash into Marine Theatre (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Lyme Regis: Town council to inject £32,000 of taxpayers' cash into Marine Theatre

10:31am Thursday 17th December 2009

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LYME Regis Town Council will plough another £32,000 of taxpayers’ money into the Marine Theatre next year to help its continuing expansion plans.

The council has injected around £250,000 into the venue over the past eight years, including a £32,000 grant this year.

That was reduced by 20 per cent from £40,000 the previous year.

The LymeArts Community Trust, which runs the theatre, urged the council not to cut the budget any further for the 2010/2011 financial year.

Lyme council wants to see the theatre become more self-sufficient and look to other bodies for funding but trustees warned slashing the amount even further would only discourage potential funders.

Trust chairman John Bartholomew said: “If we are seeking to attract support from other organisations, particularly organisations like the Arts Council and even West Dorset District Council, then we have to display a certain level of ambition before they will even look at you.

“The less money we have, the less ambitious and risk-taking we can be. That is the kind of Catch 22 we would have found ourselves in.”

While setting the budget for next year, councillors agreed to maintain the £32,000 grant. The decision was expected to get official approval at last night’s full council meeting.

Mr Bartholomew said: “We are grateful to the town council for maintaining our budget at its current level. In a very difficult climate it allows us to maintain our current aspirations for the theatre.

“But it doesn’t mean we can do everything we want to do. We are running a theatre with a creative director – who is not paid much anyway – who we can only employ for three days a week.”

If the decision had not gone their way, the trustees would have been forced to scale back spending.

“We have done that anyway over the last six months,” said Mr Bartholomew. “We have been very careful about things, identifying all kinds of risk factors – we have lost one member of staff.”

Mr Bartholomew said the trust was working hard to secure funding from other sources.

He added: “I think we will always need some kind of revenue support (from town council). The question of how much and the actual mix is for further debate and discussion.”

The council is also expected to put conditions on the cash, specifically over the maintenance of the building.

Mr Bartholomew said: “I think in both principle and in practice, how the money is spent is really a subject for a lot of careful consideration.”

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