£30k to be ploughed into Plough

Arts centre funding confirmed

A performing arts centre in Torridge is getting new funding, after concerns an earlier promise may be dropped.

In January, Torridge District Council pledged £30,000 over the next three years to the Plough Arts Centre in Torrington, which hosts plays and gigs and features a cinema.

But recently independent councillor Peter Watson raised concerns that the council doesn't have enough money for such a cause.

Two young girls, Inca and Arabella, who use act and sing at the centre, spoke at an internal overview and scrutiny meeting last week to ask the council to uphold its decision to help keep the centre open.

The committee narrowly agreed, by five votes to four, to support the council’s previous decision. However since the meeting Cllr Watson has reiterated his belief that the centre doesen't need council funding to support itself, and that Torridge’s resources are limited.

“The role of our committee is to scrutinise decisions and make recommendations to protect the finances of Torridge District Council for the benefit of everyone who lives and works in Torridge,” said Cllr Watson. “Some of my colleagues frequently get personally involved with these organisations and have some romantic Idea that Torridge has an endless pot of money available to give away.

“Torridge District Council have many funding requests each year and would love to demonstrate local support for all of them but as you know we don’t live in an ideal world and unfortunately all councils are really struggling to balance the books this year and will do for many years to come.”

After the meting, Inca said she is “so glad that I could play a part” in keeping the centre open, while Arabella feels that the money “is really going to help.”

Liberal Democrat Cllr Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin finds it “insulting” that some of her colleagues were not willing to invest £10,000 a year in the Plough, given the £140,000 it puts into the Burton Arts Museum in Bideford.

“Thankfully, the committee went against the views of the chair and voted in favour of the original decision to grant £10,000 per year for three years,” she added. “The importance of the decision is that it shows a commitment from Torridge alongside other local authorities which will help to leverage further external funding to enable the arts centre to thrive into the future, to its 50-year anniversary and beyond.”

Torridge’s full council meeting will meet next month to discuss where it will find the money to help fund the Plough Arts Centre.