Theatre’s last-ditch attempt to avoid having venue shut down
A 450-seat theatre in a village near Fareham is making a last-ditch effort to avoid one of its venues being shut down.
A government-appointed planning inspector is set to make a decision on whether Titchfield Festival Theatre can carry on using its 450-seat Arden Theatre, which Fareham Borough Council said was built without permission.
The Planning Inspectorate will today kick off a threeto-four-day inquiry, which will decide if the venue in St Margaret’s Lane, Titchfield, can stay open. The theatre is making the last-ditch attempt to stay open as it said it already had permission for the work to create the Arden Theatre space but Fareham Borough Council says it does not and was only to be used as storage.
In November 2023, the council served an enforcement order to close the charity’s largest theatre space, saying: “Without the benefit of planning permission, the material change of use of the land to theatre use and an engineering operation to excavate and create an underground area beneath the land took place.”
Artistic director Kevin Fraser, of the Titchfield Festival Theatre, has taken the case to the highest decision-making body, the Planning Inspectorate for a final decision which kicks off today.
The inspectorate’s inquiry will hear statements from both sides including hearing the case for the appeal of the enforcement order, looking at historical planning decisions and considering previous court judgements as listed on the inquiry timetable.