Ayrshire Post

THE FINAL CURTAIN

The Gaiety facing the axe months after £ 2.6 m revamp

- Stuart Wilson

The Gaiety Theatre faces closure within a year – after being smashed by shock council cuts.

Stage bosses insist they have “little hope” of beating the brutal reduction in funding, described as a “body blow” to their long term hopes.

Council cash pledges have been slashed by a third, leaving theatre chiefs stunned. And they admit the

curtain could come down as early as the start of 2018.

The stark claim comes just six months after the iconic building – opened in 1902 – was given a £ 2.6million overhaul.

Councillor­s cut the ribbon on that sunny September day but now stand accused of twisting the knife.

The local authority has ploughed £ 150,000 into the Gaiety in each of the last five years.

But support will be scaled back to £ 100,000 this year – and with only a 12- month commitment.

Future investment from key backer Creative Scotland is, theatre bosses say, “dependent” on council cash.

Chief executive Jeremy Wyatt said: “My concern is that the council has not understood how vital its ongoing support is.

“They should have done, because we made it very clear in discussion­s, but this is a decision which seriously affects our future.

“It is the base of our pyramid that allows us to reach out to other agencies for funding. Once that base starts to crumble, the rest of the pyramid falls.

“So unless this decision is reversed, this time next year our best hope will be to manage a theatre in decline.

“I’m afraid it will be that or closure.”

It’s understood the Gaiety, which has 11 full time employees, will have enough to make it through panto season before the cuts bite.

One contractor has already been axed and an “urgent review of charging arrangemen­ts for local community organisati­ons” is under way.

The Post understand­s Gaiety bosses had expected a slight cut to funding after briefings ahead of last week’s council budget.

But the 33 per cent figure came as a “bolt from the blue” they said.

Ian Welsh, chair of the Ayr Gaiety Partnershi­p, said: “The council investment has been the foundation of our social enterprise – which turns over almost ten times this amount.

“But without the foundation of South Ayrshire Council’s community’s investment – a minimum investment that the partnershi­p was assured would continue – the whole organisati­on is at serious risk.

“We need the bedrock support of a longer- term agreement with the council at the levels initially promised and we’d call on this administra­tion to revisit the decision urgently.

“If that won’t happen, we call for early considerat­ion in the new council and ask every elected member to support our future.”

The theatre, already closed once by the council in 2009, now faces its second fight for survival in just eight years.

Councillor Ann Galbraith, who sits on the Gaiety Partnershi­p board, said: “We should have stayed at £ 150,000 and that money could have been found. The problem is I don’t think a lot of councillor­s were aware of what they were doing or the full implicatio­ns of reducing this money.”

Ayr MSP John Scott branded the potential closure of the theatre as a “disaster” for the community.

It comes just weeks after the news that Ayr Flower Show is to be dumped after a high- profile rift between organisers and the council.

Mr Scott said: “After such a hardfought campaign to keep the Gaiety open, and all the hard work of the volunteers who have kept it alive and revitalise­d it, it would be a disaster if we were now left facing closure yet again.”

Council enterprise chief, Jill Cronin, said: “Since 2012, South Ayrshire Council has invested a total of £ 850,000 to support Ayr Gaiety.

“Our funding has reduced this year, but we will be working closely with the Gaiety to explore other funding options and provide advice on business developmen­t.”

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 ??  ?? Hand that feeds Council Leader Bill McIntosh, left, and Gaiety chief Jeremy Wyatt
Hand that feeds Council Leader Bill McIntosh, left, and Gaiety chief Jeremy Wyatt

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