Petition to save Peterborough’s Key Theatre from closure gathers 3,500 signatures
More than 3,500 people have signed an online petition to save Peterborough’s Key Theatre after the council said it would shut the venue to save money.
Peterborough City Council is proposing to close the theatre and Werrington Leisure Centre in the city to “manage the council’s severe financial situation” - a funding gap of £26m.
The council said the decisions would save £150,000 in the first six months of 2022.
But thousands of people have mounted opposition to the plans, arguing that they are short-sighted and overlook the benefits the theatre brings to the city.
One woman supporting the petition said: "Peterborough needs more places of culture not less."
Another added: "Please weigh up the mental well-being of the younger generation before putting money first."
Steve Allen, deputy leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “This is not the kind of announcement that I or any of my colleagues want to be making, but it is essential that we make proposals such as this if we are to get the council’s finances on a more stable footing."
He added: “Every effort will be made to get the theatre and leisure facilities back up and running as quickly as possible."
There are currently two petitions to save the Key Theatre, one on change.org which was started by Gavin Ashley Cooper and one on the council's own website which so far has 910 signatures.
Mr Cooper wrote: "This petition calls on PCC to keep the theatre open and immediately look at how the building is managed (currently by City Culture Peterborough) and to speak to interested parties and theatre users to assess how the building could be better used, make more money, and truly be a local venue for arts."
He added that many groups which used the theatre had not been consulted about the closure.
"The council must engage with these groups who all have so much to offer and to invest time and energy into listening to what these groups have to say."
In November, two national reports looking at the Peterborough City Council's financial situation were published.
These reports recommended that the council look at every area of service to make the savings needed.
The council has already approved £9.5m of cuts for the next financial year but is still facing a £26m budget gap.
As a result, it is proposed that the Key Theatre will close on Monday 17 January and public access to Werrington Leisure Centre will be temporary suspended from 1 January so the council can reduce the budget gap for next year.
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The Key Theatre based on Embankment Road opened in the early 1970s and its programme is made up of local and community productions and national touring shows.
The council confirmed people who have tickets for performances after the proposed closure would be issued a refund and access to outdoor sports pitches at the leisure centre would remain.
A spokesman said "every effort" would be made to redeploy staff and reduce the number of redundancies, while staff at the leisure centre would be redeployed elsewhere.
“In the current financial year the Key Theatre is forecast to make a loss in the region of £300,000. The leisure facilities are forecast to make a net loss for 2021/22 of £190,000, increasing to £205,000 for 2022/23," they added.
Mr Allen said the council had to make "difficult decisions" but it would "look for ways to reopen these facilities as soon as possible".
"We are obtaining a commercial value for sale of the Key Theatre and are also in preliminary discussions with a number of interested parties," he said.
The "significant losses" predicted at both venues could not continue, he added.
"Ticket sales at the Key Theatre are significantly below forecast overall and income this year has been hampered by the theatre having to close for periods and to operate in a Covid-safe way at other times.
“We cannot operate services that generate a financial deficit and expect our communities to accept it. That is money we could be using to provide services for those in real need and to get us to a point where we can meet service demand with the money we have available each year."