Brewhouse Closure - Week 3

Updated 9:23am Sunday 10th March 2013 in News By Newsdesk

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  • Brewhouse Theatre shut its doors on February 21
  • Arts centre blamed drop in funding for shock closure
  • Administrators in discussions over future of venue
  • Hundreds sign up to County Gazette campaign to reopen theatre

9:23am

4:51pm

11:31am

11:29am

THE number of people who have signed the County Gazette's Save Our Brewhouse campaign has passed the 600 mark.

In addition to more than 100 names already received on paper petitions, more than 500 people have signed the online petition calling for the theatre to reopen as soon as possible.

To add your name, click here .

9:58am

5:02pm

4:39pm

ANY ticket holders for the Taunton Amateur Operatic Society performance of the Sound of Music at the Brewhouse are being reminded they have until March 15 to exchange their tickets.

The show will now go ahead at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre from April 15-20 but tickets must be exchanged there by next Friday.

4:29pm

4:29pm

AN estate agent is calling on more businesses to back the County Gazette campaign – Save Our Brewhouse.

Chris Willey (pictured below) and his staff at Chris Willey and Son in Magdalene Lane, Taunton, have put up a banner to back the campaign to get the Brewhouse open again. He is urging other businesses to do the same and show their support.

He said: “It is a big pull for the town and when it closed it really hit home. I think if everyone can find a space in their window then many more people will become aware, something will happen and the doors will open – the more noise people make, the better.”

CBN

12:34pm

ElectionsModule Candidate photo

TWO independent councillors, Stephen Ross and Eddie Gaines, are working on their own business plan which they hope will see the theatre used as more than just an arts centre.

Cllr Gaines, pictured above, said: “We see the Brewhouse as a community hub for lots of activities and outlets to use all the space available. We would see us linking with the local economy in the area and with support for the unemployed with Job Centre schemes.”

Both groups insist they see the community as the major part of their plans but,
as it stands, they are not working together on the same project.

Mr Gaines said: “We are trying to move John Meikle towards working with us.

“He [Cllr Meikle] has a vision for the Brewhouse to be run by a massive army of volunteers with professional help butI am not sure he realises the potential the Brewhouse now gives to community arts and drama groups and other possibilities with other organisations.

“It would be damaging for the future if someone goes one way because it would not give clarity to the administrators, TDBC, or the Arts Council – we need a solution for Taunton and the wider community.”

Mr Meikle said the two groups had found differences in their ideas for the theatre at a meeting last week.

12:14pm

ANYONE with The Sound of Music tickets bought at The Brewhouse need to have their existing ticket exchanged for a new ticket.

This needs to be done in person at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre Box Office by 4pm on Friday, March 15.

Brewhouse tickets cannot be exchanged after this date and anyone arriving with Brewhouse tickets on the night of the performance will not be guaranteed a seat.

Any unsold tickets for the show will go on general sale from Monday 18th March. The Tacchi-Morris Box Office is open Monday-Friday 10am-4pm. Box Office: 01823 414141.

12:12pm

John Meikle

A BUSINESS plan to revive Taunton’s closed Brewhouse Theatre could be approved by administrators in FOUR weeks, according to one of the men fighting to re-open it.

Cllr John Meikle (pictured above) submitted his plans to administrators BDO this week and said his team are ready to take over but they are waiting on the go-ahead.

He said: “We have the manpower and the plans but we have to shuffle about untilthe administrator has considered all the options – hopefully, towards the end of the month.

“I am certain it can be done butitis the administrators who will determine how and who will do it.”

An army of 300 volunteers have offered to get the theatre up and running with Mr Meikle andhehas a clear vision of what he hopes the future Brewhouse would offer the community.

He said: “My angle is that I would like to make the Brewhouse of the future more of a community theatre and make the costs to smaller amateur dramatic groups a lot more affordable withoutthem having to sell out the theatre.

“Taunton also has so many talented musicians and I hope we could give them opportunities in future Brewhouse.”

2:14pm

MORE than 440 people have now added their names to an online petition demonstrating the desire of people in Taunton and beyond to see the Brewhouse reopened. Add your name here .

2:12pm

2:11pm

10:54am

8:50pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Somerset Tourist says

Re-ignighting the Brewhouse is a very positive message from the town's people and in this day and age a bit of pride in our town and wanting to get involved to support the local community still gives me hope for this country that not all is lost.

However; the plan should be to drive for a bigger venue that can attract the bigger shows that would give a fighting chance of the theatre being sustainable without the reliance on grants in the future.

If the Brewhouse is restarted with only amateur productions in place, in 5-10 years the theatre will yet again attempt to broaden it's wings and attract the medium sized shows. With no funding it will struggle on and end up where it is today.

The council needs to feel very embarrassed about the cost of Castle Green when they were in full knowledge of what Taunton needed elsewhere. This money would have gone a long way to build a bigger venue. It's about time, that public opinion is listened to.

We do not have the facts of the payroll budget of the Brewhouse, but I think we can do the basic maths on assumptions only and should realise that although it may have contributed to an earlier demise, the inevitable would have happened anyway at a later date without public funding.

A bigger theatre would have brought more visitors to the town who would have stayed in our hotels, shopped in our shops, bought our local produce etc. What is Castle Green bringing to the economy ............. a laughing stock opinion of our town!

5:11pm

3:12pm

A VIDEO to show how the closure of the Brewhouse Theatre has affected local people and amateur dramatic groups has been made.

Creative director Jamie Wonnacott, 36, created the video because he was 'gobsmacked' the theatre closed.

He said: "Hearing the Brewhouse closed was the final nail in the coffin because there are so few places of culture in Taunton."

12:18pm

MORE than 330 people have already added their name to an online petition calling for the Brewhouse Theatre to reopen as soon as possible - click here to add your voice.

12:16pm

12:15pm

A PROPOSAL by Taunton Deane councillor Ian Morrell for all councillors on the authority to halve their allowances in a bid to raise cash for the Brewhouse has been knocked back without even being discussed.

Councillor Morrell had hoped the idea would be discussed at last night's special Full Council meeting but instead councillors voted not to talk about the idea, instead devoting time to debating the potential link-up with cash-strapped West Somerset Council - see here for more.

8:47am

8:46am

SPEAKING to the County Gazette, Councillor Eddie Gaines, who is one of those examining the viability of reopening the Brewhouse, said work is being done by several different groups to explore options.

For more details, don't miss this week's County Gazette.

8:21pm

4:33pm

sd

 

DON'T forget, you can download a poster to show your support for the County Gazette's Save Our Brewhouse campaign by clicking here .

12:51pm

11:25am

11:24am

ANYONE who purchased tickets to see the Taunton Amateur Operatic Society's performance of The Sound of Music can exchange their ticket for a rearranged performance at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, it has been announced.

The venue has stepped in to stage the production on April 15 and anyone wishing to swap their Brewhouse ticket for a Tacchi-Morris ticket should go to the Monkton Heatfield box office before March 15.

For more details, click here .

11:05am

HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition calling for the Brewhouse Theatre to be reopened as soon as possible - to add your support, click here .

10:51am

STAY tuned to this Live article for all the latest developments in the campaign to reopen the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton.

For previous updates on the story, click here .

Comments(19)

St. Austell says...
2:08pm Tue 5 Mar 13

So "The Brewhouse" has closed and certain well paid persons are out of work and others have lost money: Hard luck it happens everywhere so why can not the newspaper just bury the dead and concentrate on some forward thinking.

Report this post »

Sidney Hall says...
3:38pm Tue 5 Mar 13

St. Austell wrote:
So "The Brewhouse" has closed and certain well paid persons are out of work and others have lost money: Hard luck it happens everywhere so why can not the newspaper just bury the dead and concentrate on some forward thinking.
Artists not paid for months, tickets not being refunded, other funding accounts completely emptied as documented here last week.....yet huge staff payrole paid every month until the last minute.
Manager still blaming everyone else for not giving him and his self-supporting mates MORE money?
Lets light some more candles.

Report this post »

Monument says...
4:23pm Tue 5 Mar 13

In the interests of fairness and impartiality, could SCG start a petition for those who do not want £150,000 + of our money wasted on the Brewhouse

Report this post »

St. Austell says...
6:04pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Monument wrote:
In the interests of fairness and impartiality, could SCG start a petition for those who do not want £150,000 + of our money wasted on the Brewhouse
I do not think that a fund raising initiative such as you propose would raise much money: people in Taunton will complain but will not put their hands in their pockets!

Report this post »

Somerset Tourist says...
6:59pm Tue 5 Mar 13

St. Austell wrote:
So "The Brewhouse" has closed and certain well paid persons are out of work and others have lost money: Hard luck it happens everywhere so why can not the newspaper just bury the dead and concentrate on some forward thinking.
Apart from a few, many were on minimum wage even after numerous years of service. To repeat myself, I am originally from St Austell and unfortunately your comments are giving those of us from Cornwall a bad name.

Perhaps you could put a positive slant on your criticism for once rather than being negative with no valid solutions proposed.

By the way, where is the successful theatre in St Austell, believe the Capitol closed many a year ago!!

Report this post »

Somerset Tourist says...
7:08pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Lets not forget, no matter what your opinion is of the management of the theatre, people have lost their jobs and the wider community a long established icon within the town. To use the phrase hard luck in these times is neither appropriate or sympathetic to those affected by this closure or any other in the country.

Self supporting mates. Come into the real world please. Some people are dependant on these wages lost and have homes and families to pay for. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Sad to see alot of comments coming from people who are obviously not feeling the crunch and not in the real world.

Report this post »

Monument says...
7:38pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Somerset Tourist

Many people have lost their jobs in very well run companies, none of which the tax payer has funded.

Brewhouse was a very poorly run company that had 1 employee for every 7 seats in the theatre and was subsidised by the taxpayer for years.

I feel extremely sorry for those who have lost their jobs and sincerely hope they find jobs very soon.

What I strongly object to is my taxes being thrown away on something simply because it is " the arts" rather than something to benefit the majority.

Report this post »

St. Austell says...
7:46pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Somerset Tourist wrote:
St. Austell wrote:
So "The Brewhouse" has closed and certain well paid persons are out of work and others have lost money: Hard luck it happens everywhere so why can not the newspaper just bury the dead and concentrate on some forward thinking.
Apart from a few, many were on minimum wage even after numerous years of service. To repeat myself, I am originally from St Austell and unfortunately your comments are giving those of us from Cornwall a bad name.

Perhaps you could put a positive slant on your criticism for once rather than being negative with no valid solutions proposed.

By the way, where is the successful theatre in St Austell, believe the Capitol closed many a year ago!!
No reflection intended on St. Austell as a town: their best beers are excellent! Having been brought up in Kernow I just use the name as a pseudonym.

Report this post »

Somerset Tourist says...
8:10pm Tue 5 Mar 13

What we have to remember is Taunton is a commercial town with it's prosperity coming from retail, commercial and tourism. The removal of a prominant retail and commercial hub has wider impacts on the towns development and foot fall.

Personally I do not have a great interest in the towns nightclubs, pubs etc as an example but I appreciate these are another element of the towns prosperity and encourages visitors to our area who utilise other facilities. I can't stand shopping either, but again encourages people to the town.

The knock on effect is that indirectly these all contribute to benefitting the wider community in some way.

Investors invest in prosperity not decline.

Report this post »

Somerset Tourist says...
8:50pm Tue 5 Mar 13

Re-ignighting the Brewhouse is a very positive message from the town's people and in this day and age a bit of pride in our town and wanting to get involved to support the local community still gives me hope for this country that not all is lost.

However; the plan should be to drive for a bigger venue that can attract the bigger shows that would give a fighting chance of the theatre being sustainable without the reliance on grants in the future.

If the Brewhouse is restarted with only amateur productions in place, in 5-10 years the theatre will yet again attempt to broaden it's wings and attract the medium sized shows. With no funding it will struggle on and end up where it is today.

The council needs to feel very embarrassed about the cost of Castle Green when they were in full knowledge of what Taunton needed elsewhere. This money would have gone a long way to build a bigger venue. It's about time, that public opinion is listened to.

We do not have the facts of the payroll budget of the Brewhouse, but I think we can do the basic maths on assumptions only and should realise that although it may have contributed to an earlier demise, the inevitable would have happened anyway at a later date without public funding.

A bigger theatre would have brought more visitors to the town who would have stayed in our hotels, shopped in our shops, bought our local produce etc. What is Castle Green bringing to the economy ............. a laughing stock opinion of our town!

Report this post »

St. Austell says...
8:52pm Tue 5 Mar 13

At last we learn it all since councillors don't want to support The Brewhouse from their expenses as reported by the BBC:-

"A proposal to cut councillors' allowances and use the money to support the failed Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton has been rejected.

Conservative councillor Ian Morrell put forward the proposal to give up half of the annual allowance, which he said would raise £120,428 for the venue.

The theatre announced last month it was to close, blaming cuts in arts funding for the decision.

Taunton Deane Borough councillors have decided not to vote on the proposal.

Mr Morrell's proposal would have seen councillors giving up about £2,140 of their total annual allowance of £4,301 for the 2013/14 financial year.

The motion was seconded by Tony Beavan, a previous chairman of the Brewhouse Board who has acted and directed at the theatre.

"Any money accrued would not have been given to the Brewhouse until the situation with the administrators has been sorted out," he said.

Business plan
"It was a good idea cut off it its prime," said Mr Beavan.

But fellow Conservative councillor Bryan Dennington, who proposed the motion to scupper the plan, disagreed.

Mr Dennington said he was aware of several councillors who needed the allowance but who would be "embarrassed" to have to say so.

"Speaking as an individual - it's my belief it's not a matter to discuss (at council) how to dispose of people's incomes," he said.

The Arts Council England withdrew regular funding to the Brewhouse in 2005 and Somerset County Council cut all its arts funding in 2010.

The council has provided the theatre with an annual grant of £152,000 which has been suspended pending the submission of a viable business plan".

Says it all!

Report this post »

MrSlightlyAnnoyed says...
9:04pm Tue 5 Mar 13

So Taunton Deane Borough councillors vote not to vote.

Report this post »

bob's your uncle nigel says...
4:37am Wed 6 Mar 13

Seem's to me that the "1 employee for every 7 seats" says it all.

Report this post »

Somerset Tourist says...
6:20pm Wed 6 Mar 13

bob's your uncle nigel wrote:
Seem's to me that the "1 employee for every 7 seats" says it all.
Yes the ratio is correct, but as I have said before many of these employees worked less than 10 hours a week. In this situation comments on fact rather than speculation would be more beneficial.

Report this post »

Anonone says...
11:06am Thu 7 Mar 13

I think that;s a bit unfair on the Councillors. They work very hard in a pretty thankless position not many of you would want or be able to tackle, with idiots calling them at all hours of the day and night. Cllr Morrell must have been under the influence to suggest it.
I am not involved with Councillors or the Deane but I know most readers would not give up £2000 of their own cash even though it would certainly solve the Brewhouse's problem!
Before any one complains about Councillors remember there is an election coming up and if you think you can do better stand up and be counted

Report this post »

joward says...
1:24pm Thu 7 Mar 13

an excerpt from this winter's edition of LAMP Magazine www.lampmagazine.co.
uk

'When Robert Miles took on the running of The Brewhouse he found an organisation which had just suffered funding cuts and was struggling with box office receipts. Moral was understandably low and he had to deal with a situation that meant every time they hired out the theatre they made a loss.despite having a core of volunteer staff. One of the main problems was - and still is - that the auditorium was too small to host the kind of quality shows that made money, and yet the programme had to be commercial in order to make up for the lack of funding, and the Arts Council had disinvested because they were not happy with the programme. Robert initiated an attempt to drive up the quality of what was on offer and make it more adventurous. There was also an increase in the theatre hiring rates. Community theatre groups could not always have the annual slots they were used to when a more commercial company such as Hampstead Theatre was available. He, of course, realised that this alienated some people including some of the amateur theatrical community - which he particularly regretted as 'they are usually the ones who are the most passionate about the theatre' though he felt he had had no choice, he had to - in the jargon - achieve full cost recovery. He deeply regretted that they were not able to communicate more clearly the need to make the changes as well as he would have liked. In evidence it should be noted that box office sales went up by 40% between 2006 and 2009.' end excerpt

For the recordd I feel it only fair to point out that there were only 18 permanent staff at the Brewhouse and some of these were restaurant staff. The other employees were on zero hours contract on an as needed basis for diverse projects.

I think that we should have a bigger theatre and the plan that Robert Miles had put forward was perfectly feasible and he should now be given the chance to put it in place - Why re-invent the wheel?

We need to look elsewhere to find the finance for this new venture.
Our council seem to have the expertise to apply for and be granted vast sums for our infrastructure - could this expertise be borrowed for a couple of months and set the task of finding funding for something that the people of Taunton could actually sit down and enjoy?
'less traffic lights, more spotlights is what we need to make Taunton shine'.

Report this post »

joward says...
1:27pm Thu 7 Mar 13

an excerpt from this winter's edition of LAMP Magazine www.lampmagazine.co.
uk

'When Robert Miles took on the running of The Brewhouse he found an organisation which had just suffered funding cuts and was struggling with box office receipts. Moral was understandably low and he had to deal with a situation that meant every time they hired out the theatre they made a loss.despite having a core of volunteer staff. One of the main problems was - and still is - that the auditorium was too small to host the kind of quality shows that made money, and yet the programme had to be commercial in order to make up for the lack of funding, and the Arts Council had disinvested because they were not happy with the programme. Robert initiated an attempt to drive up the quality of what was on offer and make it more adventurous. There was also an increase in the theatre hiring rates. Community theatre groups could not always have the annual slots they were used to when a more commercial company such as Hampstead Theatre was available. He, of course, realised that this alienated some people including some of the amateur theatrical community - which he particularly regretted as 'they are usually the ones who are the most passionate about the theatre' though he felt he had had no choice, he had to - in the jargon - achieve full cost recovery. He deeply regretted that they were not able to communicate more clearly the need to make the changes as well as he would have liked. In evidence it should be noted that box office sales went up by 40% between 2006 and 2009.' end excerpt

For the recordd I feel it only fair to point out that there were only 18 permanent staff at the Brewhouse and some of these were restaurant staff. The other employees were on zero hours contract on an as needed basis for diverse projects.

I think that we should have a bigger theatre and the plan that Robert Miles had put forward was perfectly feasible and he should now be given the chance to put it in place - Why re-invent the wheel?

We need to look elsewhere to find the finance for this new venture.
Our council seem to have the expertise to apply for and be granted vast sums for our infrastructure - could this expertise be borrowed for a couple of months and set the task of finding funding for something that the people of Taunton could actually sit down and enjoy?
'less traffic lights, more spotlights is what we need to make Taunton shine'.

Report this post »

Anonone says...
3:19pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Having even more thoughts, mischievous I know. Cllr Morrell, I UNDERSTAND, may well be considering standing for Parliament. Now then how about he and all the MP's contributing half their salaries and expenses. Now that would really help

Report this post »

Anonone says...
3:20pm Thu 7 Mar 13

and pensions

Report this post »

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