Theatre built in secret at cost of £1.7m must be torn down.

[firefingers]

metro.co.uk/2024/08/14/1-700-000-village-theatre-dismantled-just-a-year-shows-21422285/?ito=facebookimage&fbclid=IwY2xjawErIWRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHUzuc-9ukypCd-Q7Mc3dpGpInL5axPxcOCuBQoQkDAdx0xjSjQzDlzzHrg_aem_xNFukz_mHR5xnzZ04nBLLQ

What a bizarre thing!

[Jon]

I'm kind of confused how you spend that much and not be noticed by the council or anyone. Was in all cash in hand or secret accounts?

[pineapple4you]

I believe they had got planning permission for a storage space for the existing theatre not for building an entirely new theatre space. I think the council noticed when the theatre started to tout their new auditorium and it has taken this long to go through the courts.

The artistic director's argument is that the area the new theatre was built in was already being used for theatrical purposes before so they had implied permission to use the new building to do the same.

You have to wonder how they thought they going to get away with this.

[mkb]

This sounds like the stuff of an Ealing Comedy. It would be lovely to see David slay Goliath, but I fear the jobsworths will have their pound of flesh.

[paulbrownsey]

Aug 15, 2024 23:02:55 GMT mkb said:

This sounds like the stuff of an Ealing Comedy. It would be lovely to see David slay Goliath, but I fear the jobsworths will have their pound of flesh.

Some of us HOPE that those you stigmatise as jobsworths will ensure that the law is upheld and people who've broken planning law don't get told, "Oh, well, that's all right, then."  You'll; be glad of them when your neighbours want to buil,an extension that blocks all sunlight from your garden. 

[Talisman]

Can’t see how people doing their jobs are in the wrong here. Their application of well established regulations can not be described as petty One might be critical of outcome of applying law but those involved in the process of this have no choice over this.

[cavocado]

Aug 17, 2024 8:51:07 GMT paulbrownsey said:

Aug 15, 2024 23:02:55 GMT mkb said:

This sounds like the stuff of an Ealing Comedy. It would be lovely to see David slay Goliath, but I fear the jobsworths will have their pound of flesh.

Some of us HOPE that those you stigmatise as jobsworths will ensure that the law is upheld and people who've broken planning law don't get told, "Oh, well, that's all right, then."  You'll; be glad of them when your neighbours want to buil,an extension that blocks all sunlight from your garden. 

I've been in that situation where a business overlooking my home did some major illegal building work, and I complained to the council (who have done nothing so far, but I'd like it if they did). But my initial thought about this was that I hope the theatre stays. I guess it depends on things like how much it affects neighbours with noise/view/light/traffic. It would be nice if the council invited them to apply for retrospective planning permission and considered it fairly, especially if locals are supportive. But it does seem like a reckless and stupid thing to do in the first place.

[TallPaul]

All local planning decisions can be appealed, by the Applicant, to the independent Planning Inspectorate, which is what has happened here.

www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89w728447go

[SilverFox]

Aug 17, 2024 10:31:23 GMT cavocado said:

Aug 17, 2024 8:51:07 GMT paulbrownsey said:

Some of us HOPE that those you stigmatise as jobsworths will ensure that the law is upheld and people who've broken planning law don't get told, "Oh, well, that's all right, then."  You'll; be glad of them when your neighbours want to buil,an extension that blocks all sunlight from your garden. 

 But my initial thought about this was that I hope the theatre stays. I guess it depends on things like how much it affects neighbours with noise/view/light/traffic. It would be nice if the council invited them to apply for retrospective planning permission and considered it fairly, especially if locals are supportive. But it does seem like a reckless and stupid thing to do in the first place.

It is not just the effect on neighbours that is potentially a problem (and I don't know the situation here). Utilising a new space for the public also requires an inspection of the safety aspects - are materials fire retardant both within the auditorium and in adjacent spaces, are there sufficient escapes, are the toilets and changing facilities upto code, is it accessible to rescue services etc. The standards for the initial plans would have been very different to a larger public theatre. This must have been known to the theatre before embarking on the change, which IMO makes your last sentence the most apt!

[Phantom of London]

Planning consent is there for a very good reason. The theatre owners is trying to play on the victim card to garner sympathy, which of course is utter nonsense.

More so with the building registered as for storage and used as a clandestine theatre instead - would have meant if the worst happened patrons would not be covered by insurance..

[Dawnstar]

Aug 17, 2024 8:51:07 GMT paulbrownsey said:

Some of us HOPE that those you stigmatise as jobsworths will ensure that the law is upheld and people who've broken planning law don't get told, "Oh, well, that's all right, then."  You'll; be glad of them when your neighbours want to buil,an extension that blocks all sunlight from your garden. 

As someone who dislikes sunlight I'd be quite happy with that. What annoys me is the windows from our neighbours' extension that refect sunlight into our house.

[ceebee]

To be or not to be. That was the question.

[paulbrownsey]

Aug 17, 2024 17:53:55 GMT Dawnstar said:

Aug 17, 2024 8:51:07 GMT paulbrownsey said:

Some of us HOPE that those you stigmatise as jobsworths will ensure that the law is upheld and people who've broken planning law don't get told, "Oh, well, that's all right, then."  You'll; be glad of them when your neighbours want to buil,an extension that blocks all sunlight from your garden. 

As someone who dislikes sunlight I'd be quite happy with that. What annoys me is the windows from our neighbours' extension that refect sunlight into our house.

Well, then, when they open a glue factory next door to you and the smell seeps into your house.  When they open a motor-bike repair shop next to you and the noise drives you mad.  When they open a puppy farm next to you and the howling of dogs disturbs you day and night.   Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

[TallPaul]

I know we all love insider info on TheatreBoard, and this is a real scoop!  The following is being shared with the full consent of the long-standing member who messaged me directly.  They wish to remain anonymous, which I will obviously respect.

I used to be a member of the Titchfield festival company who have been forced to demolish this theatre. There's no division between me and them but I don't fancy discussing it openly.

I've seen what has been built and it's like a mini National Theatre or RSC with an existing mid-sized front on theatre, a studio theatre, a few dressing rooms and rehearsal rooms, storage and set building space, front of house. And now this larger, kind of apron-stage theatre like Chichester and a complex of corridors, dressing rooms and rehearsal rooms at the back. They also have an actual medieval barn nearby that was renovated into a theatre where they do a Shakespeare season every summer. They also have the capacity to do an outdoor Last Night at the Proms at Titchfield Abbey.

Fareham Borough Council is aware they have this complex and the theatre company argue that building a new theatre within the building they own does not require them to gain planning permission.

But there's been this rivalry going on between the artistic director, Kevin Fraser, and the council for years that's causing this animosity. He particularly doesn't like them redeveloping Fareham Live in the centre of town as a means of putting on amateur theatre there, when the council knows full well there's already a long-established amateur company in the area where plenty of people are participating.

I can't deny the ambition of Kevin Fraser and the company.  The company is certainly getting ambitious with what they put on. A few years ago I think they had one or two musicals a year. This year they've had Nativity, Calamity Jane, and their last show in the new theatre (unless they intend to continue fighting) is Made in Dagenham. Meanwhile they have a youth theatre currently running and they've done Les Mis school edition earlier.  A lot of plays including One Man Two Guvnors, Stepping Out, Wind in the Willows, and they were meant to do Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time in the new theatre. A lot of royalties to pay. They have their own new play season as well as the Shakespeare season in the medieval barn. And a panto with Kevin as the dame

A lot going on. All of varying quality I might add. And it was obvious last year when I last performed in an adaptation of the Henry VI trilogy. Sure the company has a lot of people who can perform but now they're putting on a lot of large cast musicals and plays, there are cast members in multiple productions at once. Rarely had rehearsals with everybody required until the tech run.

Which is why I say Kevin should be focusing on the practicalities before building a new theatre. Especially the parking. There's only enough room for a few spaces at the main complex of theatres. They have permission to use the car park for a garden centre opposite. But the times we rehearsed down there whilst a show was on in the barn, the youth theatre rehearsals were on as well, and the amount of parents waiting for their kids still spilled out down the road. Which I know is a nuisance for the neighbours.

Now Kevin has been asking and asking the council to sell him some nearby lands for parking. But with the rivalry going on that's not getting anywhere. So if say you're rehearsing whilst there's a performance on in one of the theatres, audience members are obviously given priority, and you have to park in the Holiday Inn back up the road and across the main road roundabout. Not ideal during evenings.