Arts funding in Hertfordshire has gone on a bit of a rollercoaster ride this week as we learn that Watford Borough Council is scaling the heights with a committed £200,000 subsidy agreement to host not-for-profit community events at Watford Colosseum, while also in talks with major entertainment provider HQ Theatres, who run The Wycombe Swan and The Beck Theatre Hayes, to takeover the management of the venue.

Meanwhile, Dacorum Borough Council is spiralling downwards by axing arts services as part of a £2.8m tax cut. Funding has been lost for the Dacorum Live! series including classical concerts across the region. At The Old Town Hall in Hemel Hempstead, there are no plans for events during the Easter holidays and the summer theatre school will no longer be taking place.

So while The Colosseum still retains council funding but has its management outsourced, the likes of The Old Town Hall, Boxmoor Playhouse, Berkhamsted Civic Centre and The Court Theatre, Tring remain under the council wing but are to have their services cut.

Late last year, Watford Palace Theatre had to switch from being a year-round producing theatre to a space for hire in the summer months. Now the credit crunch is affecting other arts venues in the county.

Dacorum Borough Council’s senior communications manager Louise Manders says the council was faced with cuts equalling a tenth of its overall revenue spend, and that reductions in the spend on the arts was inevitable.

She says: “To achieve this level of saving. We have had to look at areas of discretionary spend, including the arts. A savings package agreed by full council in late February included a reduction in the arts budget by £93,300.”

The two main areas of reduction are stopping the Dacorum Live! programme, including the summer school, saving £89,300, and an overall reduction of £4,000 for grants to Berkhamsted and Tring Arts Trusts.

“Despite the reduction, both organisations will still receive funding from the council, although a smaller amount. Tring Arts Trust will receive £23,630 and Berkhamsted Arts Trust will receive £7,170 this year. Louise says: “To compensate for the reduction in grants, we will work with both Trusts through our external funding service to help them access European, national and regional grants.

“The Old Town Hall in Hemel Hempstead will continue to put on a full programme of professional events featuring national and international artists.

“Dacorum Borough Council remains committed to the performing arts in Dacorum. We have just signed a development agreement with Thornfield Properties to regenerate the centre of Hemel Hempstead. One of the core elements of this partnership regeneration project is the provision of a new performing arts venue. Thornfield is currently working up a master plan for the whole Waterhouse Square regeneration scheme, including details of the performing arts venue, which the public will be consulted on later this year.”

So Dacorum Borough Council may be cutting back now to ensure sufficient funds to carry out its ambitious regeneration plans but in the meantime, the community groups it serves are feeling the pinch.

Over in Watford, Watford Borough Council’s management of The Colosseum has proved successful. The council has been able to provide space for Watford Philharmonic Society and numerous other community groups, while also organising a busy programme of events from the BBC Concert Orchestra and headline acts, such as Ken Dodd and Billy Ocean. Now HQ Theatres is aiming to build on this success, both parties are working towards concluding negotiations in the next three months with the aim of having a contract in place by July 1.

Michael Ockwell, HQ Theatres Managing Director, says of the programming aspirations: “A key focus would be placed on implementing a wide-ranging programming of music, including pop, jazz, rock, folk, contemporary and classical. We are committed to maintaining and developing an excellent relationship with BBC Concert Orchestra and to ensuring the enhancement of the acoustic qualities of the main auditorium. Our aim is to ensure that Watford Colosseum’s reputation for excellence in music is re-established both locally and nationally.

“We have experience of creating a succesful dance festival at Wycombe Swan and a comedy festival in Swindon and would envisage using Watford Colosseum’s acoustic strengths to establish a music festival.”

Securing the Watford Colosseum contract would take HQ Theatres’ regional portfolio to eight venues. Forthcoming events at our closest neighbours, Wycombe Swan include Flashdance The Musical, Ellen Kent & Amphitheatre Productions is performing Verdi’s Aida, and homegrown events such as the Wycombe Arts Festival and a mix of musicals presented by the Jackie Palmer Stage School, while over at the Beck Theatre Hayes, there’s Sing-A-Long-A-Hairspray and the European Ballet performing Cinderella, plus local shows such as Hillingdon Musical Society’s production of Anything Goes. HQ aims to present the same mix at Watford Colosseum.

Michael says: “You can expect in any one week at The Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, to see Steve Coogan, Ken Dodd, The Sugarbabes, Jimmy Carr and Jools Holland, these are the type of world class entertainers likely to appear in Watford.

“We are committed to work in partnership with local organisations such as The Palace Theatre in order to complement the excellent arts which are already available and ensure local people have an enhanced cultural experience.”

Dacorum Live! was intended to provide the kind of events previously on offer at Dacorum Pavilion, Hemel’s 1,500 capacity venue, which closed in 2002. So how will the latest cuts affect smaller venues such as Boxmoor Playhouse and Berkhamsted Civic Centre?

Louise says they will remain as arts venues. “This is not the end of local arts in Dacorum. Activities are still planned, and as far as our commitment to the arts is concerned, we aim to provide a wider entertainment programme for local people. The focus now is on providing a new entertainment venue in Hemel Hempstead. It’s very early days but the masterplan is in progress and we will consult with the public on details of that scheme.

“Our aim is to enhance existing facilities not as the sole provider but as a focus for the arts. This is a large venue, whereas the venues currently in existence cater for different audiences and different productions. Louise concludes: “Berkhamsted and Tring Arts Trusts run as voluntary organisations and our support for them continues. The Old Town Hall will still have full programme of events and funding is as before. There have been no reductions in the arts education budget but it would be untrue to say that’s not an area that would be vulnerable to cuts in the future.”

Watford Palace Theatre

Artistic director of Watford Palace Theatre, Brigid Larmour says of the re-structuring at the Colosseum: “The council had been keeping us in the loop so the tender would be complimentary rather than competition. The move is part of a broader cultural strategy for the area around the town hall.

“It’s really exciting to have another quality professional arts organisation to compliment the quality of those we have in Watford already.

“We are the Watford panto and I believe that’s understood by all parties but within the next month or so both organisations will be sitting down to programme together symapthetically.

“There’s a hunger in the town for the Colosseum to be active in a way it has in the past and for both venues to be successful.”

Watford Philharmonic Society

Watford Philharmonic Society chairman, Alan Bannister, comments: “Watford Philharmonic welcomes the news that the long term future of the Colosseum, the largest and best venue for live music of all types in our region, is secure. Watford can now continue to be a great place to learn, perform, and enjoy classical music, and this is good news for music lovers all over the country.

“As a society, we now wait for detailed information on the new arrangements, but we were reassured to read in the Watford Observer that our near 70 year association with this superb hall is assured.”

Tring Arts Trust

Tring Arts Trust (TAT) has been closely involved with theatre and music in Tring for the past ten years. Chairman Robert Stringer says: “Tring Arts Trust acknowledges the difficult financial position in which we are all operating. We do however feel that in these difficult times, the arts can give a genuine fillip to the community and should be maintained at all costs.

“It’s worth bearing in mind that one can take a swift slice across grants, but the potential loss in artistic impetus and endeavour may take many years to recover. Although this cut is painful, it is not fatal but we have been warned that there will be further cuts over the next two years which could have serious consequences.”

Berkhamsted Arts Trust

Berkhamsted Arts Trust (BAT) was formed to encourage and promote the arts in Berkhamsted. Trust chairman Brian Parsons comments: “We very much regret the cut in our modest grant (around £8,000 annually), because it provides financial guarantees for the 20 or so member associations of BAT, to enable them to plan a year's programme of events. The grant also pays for the preparation, printing and distribution of the Green Sheet (The Arts for Berkhamsted) to every address in the town and the maintenance of our BAT website.

“The BAT does not own any buildings in the town, but our members hire venues (such as the Civic Centre) as required. I cannot think of any way in which we could provide around 120 arts-related events annually more efficiently and economically.”