Council to lobby against cut to Watermill Theatre

West Berkshire Council is planning to lobby MPs in its area after a local theatre lost its National Portfolio status.

Newbury’s Watermill Theatre is set to lose its annual Arts Council England (ACE) funding when the next National Portfolio round begins next year.

In a council meeting held last week, councillors agreed to lobby local MPs, including Conservatives Alok Sharma and John Redwood, to pressure ACE to change its mind.

Conservative Council Leader Lynne Doherty said the area was “lucky to have this venue”.

“A 14% funding cut is a huge amount for them to recover. We can all agree this is the right thing for us to be doing,” she added.

Conservative MP for Newbury Laura Farris has already said she is “extremely disappointed that ACE has refused funding to this local jewel of a theatre, despite its exceptional creative offering, and value to our local community”. 

“I’ve been working closely with [Culture Secretary] Michelle Donelan and am hoping in the coming days we can ask them to urgently reconsider their priorities and recognise that rural theatres of this quality are exceptionally rare and just as deserving as theatres in the North of England,” Farris added.