Published: Friday, 20th December 2024
There is still time for residents and businesses across Cannock Chase to have their say as part of a consultation into the future of culture and heritage services in the district.
Already more than 1700 people have responded to the consultation that runs until 2 January, with the potential closure of the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock and the Museum of Cannock Chase in Hednesford, part of the plans to reduce a £1.3m expected gap in the budget the local authority has to run essential public services.
The council’s leisure and cultural offer is run by Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles (IHL) and includes the museum and theatre - as well as the leisure centres at Cannock and Rugeley.
A review of the local authority’s ‘Leisure, Culture and Heritage’ offer has been carried out and a condition survey undertaken of the buildings used to provide the services.
The theatre was to be closed in May for up to two years as part of work to regenerate the town centre. A survey of the building revealed £2.2m would need to be spent on it over 10 years - including £1.4m in the first two years, making the theatre unsustainable in its current form - with funding received from government unable to finance the day to day running of it. Already taxpayers’ money subsidises the annual running of the theatre by £167k and the museum by £256k - which doesn’t include overheads.
The council is facing a £1.3m shortfall in its 2025/26 budget which finances key services such as household waste collection, street cleaning and looking after parks and open spaces - along with a number of other functions.
The local authority would save more than £350,000 a year should the museum and theatre close - money that that could help safeguard the key services for residents and businesses. The move is also aimed at protecting both leisure centres, as well as other community work run by IHL, to tackle health inequalities in the district.
Council leader, Tony Johnson, described the proposals as ‘one of the hardest decisions’ he has ever been involved in.
Funding that Cannock Chase Council receives from the government to deliver services has fallen by millions of pounds in real terms over the last decade. The leisure and cultural functions that IHL run on the authority’s behalf are ‘non-statutory’ - meaning the council does not have to provide them unlike many other services - but account for around 15 percent of the local authority’s net budget.
The council is meeting with organisations regarding the theatre and museum as part of the consultation. And several drop-in sessions have been run at venues across the district to help people fill in the survey.
Residents and businesses have until Thursday 2 January to give their views on the future provision of culture and heritage in the district and can do so via www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/shapingculture. Paper copies of the survey are also available from the Council and at libraries across the district.
The full cabinet report on the ‘Review of Leisure, Culture and Heritage Provision’ can be found at https://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/council/meetings/agendas-reports-minutes/cabinet/2024-11-28