Beloved theatre could be saved
A beloved Sunninghill theatre could be saved from demolition after the council agreed to offer the premises for sale to the community – but fears remain the asking price could scupper the deal.
The 20th-century Novello Theatre has been councilowned since 1966, but since falling into disrepair, will cost at least £100,000 to be brought back up to standard to relet.
The council set aside money in its draft budget to potentially demolish the building but a community petition asking for the chance to take it back into community use garnered nearly 2,000 signatures.
Councillor Adam Bermange, cabinet member for planning, legal and asset management, said ‘there has been very constructive engagement between the council and local campaigners to date’, adding: “It's genuinely great to see how much passion is out there for the Novello and how much this has captured the imagination of the local community.”
Officers recommended cabinet approve offering the building to purchase for community use for at least six months, to give campaigners a window to raise funds, before marketing the site for commercial redevelopment.
The sale price for community use is £300,000, based on an independent valuation, but this councildrawn figure was heavily contested at the cabinet meeting in York House on Wednesday.
Lead petitioner Alan Everett addressed the cabinet: “We find ourselves a bit of an impasse: one minute we hear community is your mantra and the next, we hear the property services have not valued the Novello as a theatre but just as a community asset.
“It is different. That figure is really going to be tough for us and just seems a bit unfair to dig in as a value that is not actually based on fact.
“[The] building in its current state with no seats, the value is zero, so where did they get their £300,000 valuation from?
“Just let us pay the right price and we can demonstrate to the community how highly your policy of placing the community first really is.”
Treasurer of the appeal Peter Harris asked the council to ‘leave the price open’ following the campaign group’s independent valuation to give ‘financial headroom’.
He added: “The pace of the renovation will be very much governed by the price we have to pay for the business itself. That is money we will not be able to reinvest to put right the years of neglect that have left the building in its current state of disrepair.
“The sale of the theatre is not just a capital receipt but also relieves the council of its liability for repairs to the property.”
Conservative ward councillor for Sunninghill, Cllr Julian Sharpe asked cabinet members to defer their decision pending clarification on the valuation to get a ‘realistic value’, adding: “The Novello Theatre was valued in the council’s accounts only a couple of years ago at zero.
“So the community in effect, is saving you that [£300,000] demolition cost and thereby putting an asset of community value back into use. I'm sure everyone here from the community tonight would agree that the value of £300,000…is not one which is a community valuation.
“It's one that’s aimed at extracting the maximum value from a village which is keen to use its assets and preserve the heritage of the village and create a new vibrant asset which has been severely underused and allowed to get into a dilapidated state.”
Leader of the council Cllr Simon Werner said the council was ‘skirting at the edge of bankruptcy’ and “one false move and we’re over the edge thanks to the legacy we’ve inherited. We cannot sell land off cheap.”
Cabinet member for finance Cllr Lynne Jones concluded: “I completely understand the position that has been expressed very passionately but as finance lead you must realise that I had to support officers in attempting to achieve best value for any of our asset disposals.”
Cabinet members unanimously agreed to note the report for the sale of the Novello Theatre.