A PRESSURE group set up to fight for threatened arts and culture in a North-East town has earmarked its first priority.

Darlington for Culture was set up this month in response to the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Its steering group met this week and agreed its first priority would be to campaign on behalf of Darlington Arts Centre.

The group said it would seek detailed financial information to make the case for continued council spending.

Darlington Borough Council does not yet have further details of how last week’s spending review would impact on its accounts.

However, it praised the establishment of such groups and “encouraged community involvement”. Darlington for Culture was launched after a meeting called to protect the arts and culture in the town from public spending cuts.

It followed an investigation by The Northern Echo which revealed that, in the past financial year, Darlington’s Arts Centre and Civic Theatre made a loss of £1,266,513.

During the same year, the Arts Council provided a £144,059 grant to the arts centre, which has 100,000 visitors a year and is home to 40 voluntary organisations.

Pressure group spokesman Paul Harman said councils now hadthe freedom to support arts venues such as the Arts Centre.

He said: “It is no elitist playground. It is a vital meeting place for the very people who will create new ideas for the future of our town.

“We want to work with the council to fulfil its responsibilities to the people of Darlington.

In hard times, people need to come together to face new challenges.

“The arts, along with our history and heritage, make up a culture which can either stagnate or grow. We need a living culture which celebrates the imagination. That means spending some money to let people meet and work together creatively.”

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said: “We are currently considering our response to the Government spending review.

“All services are under consideration, including the Civic Theatre and Arts Centre.

We positively encourage community involvement in this process and will engage widely before any decisions are made.”

The Arts Council said this week that its grants would be reduced to £349.4m by the cuts.