PUBLIC CONSULTATION

THE public consultation into cutting the arts and heritage budget will centre around five options:

OPTION ONE: Croydon Summer Festival, the biggest event in the borough’s social calendar, will be scrapped but impact on other services would be lessened. Clocktower Arts and the David Lean Cinema would remain open but run a more modest programme. Reduced arts events would still include Black History Month.

Savings: £150,000

OPTION TWO: The David Lean Cinema would close and the festival would be ditched. The local studies service, housed in Central Library, would run at reduced hours. The Museum of Croydon would continue but with fewer exhibitions. The Clocktower would continue to operate as a venue to hire.

Savings: £765,000

OPTION THREE: Croydon Clocktower, the David Lean Cinema and the festival would close or cease. Revised staff structure for the service would not retain any senior management. The Museum of Croydon would be retained with a smaller staff and programme capacity. Local studies would remain but with limited opening hours.

Savings: £1.13 million

OPTION FOUR: All arts services would cease. Public access areas of the Museum of Croydon would close, as would the local studies library. The Clocktower would close and transfer to another department.

Savings: £1.47 million

OPTION FIVE: All services would remain the same. It is seriously unlikely the council will choose this in the face of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Savings: None

SUMMER FESTIVAL

THOUSANDS of revellers descend on Lloyd Park each year to enjoy Croydon Summer Festival.

The two-day event, which is split into the World Party and multicultural Mela, has earned a reputation

as one of the best, free festivals in south London.

This year, top acts like The Damned and The Lightning Seeds, as well as up and coming local acts,

played to packed crowds surrounded by hundreds of stalls and attractions.

But after hailing it as a huge success, little over two months later the council looks set to scrap the event.

Charging for entry and looking to smaller rather than expensive headline acts are some of the suggestions that have been considered but dismissed,

meaning the event is likely to be scrapped altogether.

Councillor Sara Bashford said: “If you charge for entry then you will incur the added expense of putting up

fencing in order to stop people without a ticket from coming in.

“Given the nature of Lloyd Park, it’s just not practical to sell tickets, as people would simply wait

outside and continue to enjoy the music for free.”

DAVID LEAN CINEMA

THE David Lean Cinema is Croydon’s only independent cinema and attracts audiences of 35,000 each year.

The intimate venue, housed inside the Clocktower, in Katharine Street, is named after the Croydon-born director,

whose cinematic masterpieces included Lawrence of Arabia and Brief Encounter.

Options for its future include running a more “modest programme” to reflect the possible reduction of Arts

Council funding.

However, this would only save the council £150,000.

As a result, most of the alternatives to be put to the public involve the closure of the cinema, which

would reduce opening hours at the Clocktower in the evening.

The council believes its closure would mainly impact on people over the age of 60, as this is the age group

which most frequently visits the independent cinema.

THE CLOCKTOWER

AS WELL as being one of the most iconic buildings in Croydon, the Clocktower generates £335,000 through

conferences and events each year.

However, the complex also costs £1 million a year to operate.

Built in 1895, the Clocktower is attached to the town hall and houses the Museum of Croydon, art galleries,

the David Lean Cinema, Central Library, the Braithewaite Hall and a café.

It has previously been described as “the jewel in Croydon’s crown” by Time Out magazine.

As well as closing the Clocktower, cuts to the arts and heritage budget could see the closure of four

community halls in Croydon – grade two listed Stanley Halls, Selsdon Hall, Canterbury Road Community Centre

and Highbury Community Centre.

Paul Sandford, chairman of heritage group The Bourne Society, said the closure of these buildings and the

Clocktower would be “devastating”.

He said: “To cut all arts services in Croydon would be an absolutely ridiculous decision.

It doesn’t make sense to do anything drastic to the complex as it’s one of the best buildings of its kind in

the country,”

MUSEUM OF CROYDON

A COLLECTION of Chinese ceramics – called the Riesco Gallery – is among the main attractions at the Museum of

Croydon.

Plans for its future range from allowing the museum, also based in the Clocktower, to continue in its current

form with the loss of two major exhibitions each year, to complete closure to the public.

The Museum of Croydon’s exhibits have helped increase visitor figures in recent years.

In 2010/11 the number of people visiting the museum reached 85,926, over 10,000 more than the year before.

Recent exhibitions include Scene Unseen, showcasing the council’s art collection, and the current Dragon Tales,

based on a prestigious loan from the British Museum.

Its services are linked to the local studies library, based in Central Library, which handles 4,000 research

visits each year.

Paul Sowan, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society’s librarian, described the potential cuts as

“an appalling idea”.

He said: “If they go as far as to close the studies library then, quite frankly, that’s a disgrace.

“Not only does the council have a statutory right to keep an archive, but the library is a jewel in Croydon’s

crown.”