Have say on future of arts project

Have your say on ambitious plans to create a new theatre, cinema and performing arts space for Paisley today.

Paisley Community Trust is behind Baker Street, a £24.7 million plan to create a stateof-the-art community space on derelict land between Incle Street and Smithhills Street in the town.

The team is currently putting together its business plan to apply for funding and is being supported by Community Enterprise.

It is hosting a consultation at the Piazza Centre to find out what people in the town really think of the plans.

C ha i r of Paisley Community Trust, Gary Kerr, told the Paisley Daily Express: “We’ve held consultations before and always had really positive feedback.

“Now we need to have something a bit more formal to form part of our business plan. Community Enterprise have been a big help to us and will be running the event today.

“Even if you’ve come along to one of our consultations before, we’d love to hear from you today and have your thoughts on the plan. We want to hear from the people of Paisley about what you would want from this type of space and how you would use it.

“The business case needs to be a bit more in depth and face greater scrutiny than the feasibility study we did before. We’re working on it now and hope to present it to Renfrewshire Council later in the year.”

Ambitious plans for Baker Street include a flexible 500seat theatre space, restaurant and cafe and five cinema screens with one 170-seat, a 120-seat and three 70-seat screens that will show both blockbusters and arthouse and niche films.

Today’s event takes place outside the former Post Office inside the Piazza Shopping Centre from noon till 5pm.

For more on the project, visit www. facebook. com/ paisleytrust