A grassroots organisation, The Voice of Theatr Gwynedd’s Audience,
has published an open letter to the Wales Assembly Government proposing
an alternative to the closure of the Bangor theatre (see our news
story of 17th July).
Theatr Gwynedd in Bangor is due to close on 31st October, 2008. Work
on the proposed new Arts Centre cannot begin until 2010 at the earliest,
and then only if funding is secured. It is understood that no alternative
plans have been prepared to cover the possibility that funding for
the new Centre cannot be obtained.
Following Monday night’s incisive Wales This Week programme,
the organizers of a petition signed by 3,400 North West Wales audience
members are suggesting a way forward for Theatr Gwynedd, and are offering
the Welsh Assembly Government a final opportunity to respond positively
to the needs and demands of the North West Wales audience.
At a meeting with Bangor University’s Estates Department on
Thursday 23rd October, 2008, campaigners were informed that the university
had, some time ago, offered the option for a bona fide community
organisation to take over Theatr Gwynedd, providing that the organisation
was prepared to fund the necessary repairs. This offer was never made
public, but it should have been presented to the public as a possible
alternative to closure.
An auction of Theatr Gwynedd’s facilities is due to take place
on 30th October 2008. Because Theatr Gwynedd Company is going into
voluntary liquidation, the liquidators have a responsibility to raise
as much money as possible. Even though the auction is unlikely to
raise a great deal of money, once the facilities have been sold off,
this effectively spells the end for Theatr Gwynedd.
We challenge the Welsh Assembly Government to offer a suitable figure
to the liquidators, so that the facilities can stay in place, and
the building can be temporarily mothballed rather than closed.
The University also confirmed that the figure required for sufficient
repairs to keep the theatre open for at least two years is in the
region of £500,000. If Theatr Gwynedd were to be awarded £1
million to make the necessary repairs, and to run Theatr Gwynedd for
a minimum of two years, when hopefully funding for the new Arts Centre
will be secured, this £1 million grant to North West Wales would
represent an investment by the Welsh Assembly Government of less than
£1 per week for each of the 10,000 audience members on Theatr
Gwynedd’s database, over the two year period. Should funding
for the new Arts Centre not be secured, this investment would be even
more cost effective over a longer period of time.
We challenge the Welsh Assembly Government to invest at least £1
million in Theatr Gwynedd in North West Wales, in order to preserve
quality provision for a minimum of two years, and at least until funding
for the new Arts Centre has been secured. This investment compares
favourably with the £3.5 million awarded annually to the Millenium
Centre in Cardiff, and the £13.5 million additional monies awarded
to them in November 2007 to wipe out their debts; and also to the
£1.9 million awarded to the National Botanic Gardens in Carmarthenshire
in February 2008 in order to pay off their overdraft.
In the Wales This Week programme, we heard that the Arts Council
of Wales are planning, from April 2009, a programme of events to be
presented in shopping centres and schools in North West Wales. The
reaction to this suggestion is stunned incredulity. It would take
us back to the situation pre-1975 when Theatr Gwynedd opened, and
this is not acceptable as a temporary or perhaps permanent measure.
The major concern amongst the audience in North West Wales is that
they could be permanently deprived of theatre provision.
If Theatr Gwynedd is kept open, and necessary repairs carried out,
a programme of films could be scheduled almost immediately, and live
performances could be scheduled as soon as possible. Key staff could
be employed on a freelance basis, with a small number of core workers,
including a Manager, employed more permanently. They could also be
involved in the temporary arrangements for provision during the transition
into the new Centre, once its funding has been secured.
