Artsdepot, a new arts centre development in London?s North Finchley will be going ahead as planned despite publicly stated opposition to the project by the new Barnet Council, following the shift in the Council by three seats from Labour to Conservative control in local government elections last May.
As reported in ArtsProfessional (Issue 31, July 29) , although building work had already started, the project had been under threat since the new administration placed it under review and started to consider new proposals for the site, with a view to reconfiguring the spaces and replacing the theatre and studio with a library and media centre. The London Borough of Barnet has now completed its evaluation of the plans and concluded that a multi-disciplinary arts centre with theatre spaces, a gallery and a range of education facilities will make optimum use of the new development at Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, to which it has provided the land and made a capital contribution of £2m.
In announcing the findings of the evaluation, Councillor Victor Lyon, Leader of the London Borough of Barnet, said "Barnet Council is now satisfied that the development of the artsdepot is the right choice, given the circumstances." He made it clear that the advanced stage that the building project had already reached meant that "to change substantially the use of the facility and alter the building at this stage would not be feasible given the many significant uncertainties regarding planning and building issues". He also pointed out that a review of the business plan for artsdepot had taken place, and that measures were being taken to ensure that artsdepot could be run within the subsidy agreed for it by the Council. He said "This subsidy will not be increased. Indeed we shall be exploring ways to reduce it. We will also be exploring a range of income generation initiatives with the Trust? These will be geared to exploiting every viable opportunity to reduce the Council subsidy to the arts centre.?
The Council, which is keen to ensure that the new arts centre has the widest possible appeal, will now be working closely with the artsdepot Trust to "?achieve a close and effective working partnership based on a ?community first? objective." The artsdepot Trust and staff, who received an enormous amount of public support during the uncertainty, have said that they are "delighted" at the outcome of the Council?s review and, emphasised that artsdepot will offer the community a fully accessible, varied range of arts activities, to create opportunities for all residents in the Borough. Alison Duthie, artsdepot?s Director said "This is great news for the future of the arts in Barnet and we are grateful for the Council?s support." The centre is due to open in spring 2004, with a pre-launch programme, ?Around the Corner?, taking place across the Borough from April 2003.