Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) is the second Wandsworth institution facing potential closure because of massive council funding cuts.

Wandsworth council, which currently funds the borough's flagship arts organisation to the tune of £370,000 a year, has revealed it will almost completely withdraw its support within months.

Centre artistic director David Jubb has described the decision as "baffling". Supporters say it is "cruel" and a "bodyblow".

The council claims BAC, which just months ago won the Best Community Contribution by a Business award at a council-run event, has become a regional, rather than a Wandsworth resource and so should not be the responsibility of the council, which currently provides a £100,000 grant and pays £270,000 rent and maintenance costs.

The move is the latest in a line of crippling cuts, which includes the closure of Wandsworth Museum, and makes it increasingly inevitable that council tax will rise by the maximum five per cent for years to come.

According to the council, the drastic measures result from a lower-than-hoped Government grant which, due to inflation and rising costs, has left a £5m gap in the budget to plug.

Cabinet member for leisure Councillor Malcolm Grimston believes the Arts Council, which already provides £493,000, should now take over BAC funding from the council.

He said: "We can't continue pouring hundreds of thousands of pounds into what is primarily a regional resource. We have to focus on local people, and especially needy local people. It is a regretful decision which is the result of Government pressures.

"We recognise that 20 per cent of its work is particularly for the borough so we would look very seriously at providing funding to cover that 20 per cent. We're open to negotiation."

However, Mr Jubb disagrees.

He said: "Forty-five per cent, (100,000 of 220,000 people) of the centre's work directly benefits local people. BAC is baffled by the council's proposals."

He said the decision was especially damaging because the centre was currently running a £300,000 education and participation programme for 3,500 Wandsworth school children.

Battersea MP and arts centre trustee Martin Linton has been lobbying local government minister Phil Woolas about the cuts.

Mr Linton said: "If they withdraw all their support, Battersea Arts Centre will close. To pretend it could somehow struggle on after a bodyblow like this would be cruel and disingenuous. They are killing it.

"It has taken years, indeed decades, to build up the reputation of Battersea Arts Centre and it seems stupid to close it down simply because it attracts audiences from all over London and indeed all over the country. It would be vandalism of the worst kind."

Councillor Rex Osborn, Labour spokesman for leisure, said: "The problem is this council has been Conservative since 1978 and has run out of ideas. They've become a one-trick pony who have made a fetish out of keeping tax low.

"It's good to keep taxes low, but it's irresponsible to pretend you can run a London borough on nothing more than Government grants and fresh air. Wandsworth is failing to pay its way and the BAC is symbolic of that failure."

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