I thought it was worth summarising the live meeting notes from last night’s meeting.
The Vote – 8 vote for both Theatres pursuing Option C. Carried unanimously.
Option C for both theatres was to keep them open for 2 years, and “Prepare development options and take to the market.”
Details of all of the terms of Option C are in the minutes.
Thoughts
It’s clear that there was a lot of passion in the hall for both venues and a strong feeling that these venues are vital for the future of the Island.
A point made many times was that the Council should be supporting creative outlets like this, despite of them not being self supporting.
People went away from the meeting appeased, but still not 100% certain that, two years hence, the threat of closure wouldn’t be hanging over these venues again.
It’s not completely clear what the phrase used, “Prepare development options and take to the market,” practically means.
The general consensus was that the council had just put off the decision, or were taking an opportunity to get their arguments for closure or sell off better organised for next time.
It wasn’t fully understood what “commercial avenues” would be pursued during the two years – some feared that this actually meant it would involve finding property developers to take over the venues.
The outcome could have been a lot worse and it’s good news that the venues remain open for two more years.
For me this is another illustration of the something that we’ve written about before. Politicians respond to the number of people that are actively supporting or opposing an issue.
