A COMMUNITY’S business plan to take over a closure-threatened arts centre would have resulted in a “bleak situation”

within a year, council bosses have said.

Darlington Borough Council said it has no option but to press ahead with the closure of the town’s art centre because a business plan put forward by a community interest company was not financially sustainable.

However, Darlington for Culture, the volunteer-led organisation set up to look into taking over the running of the arts centre, has refuted the claims made by members of the council’s cabinet at a Talking Together meeting on Monday evening.

About 200 people attended the meeting at Darlington’s Dolphin Centre to talk about the range of cuts the council is proposing.

The authority wants to close the arts centre, in Vane Terrace, which is the biggest of its kind outside of London, and try to use the sale of the site to help create a purposebuilt venue next to the town hall.

The closure of the arts centre would help the authority save about £530,000 from a £22m budget shortfall.

However, a number of people attending the meeting asked why the present venue could not be kept open and run by Darlington for Culture.

Councillor Nick Wallis, cabinet member for leisure, said council officers worked with Darlington for Culture on a business case.

He said: “We didn’t have the confidence that it was going to deliver a long-term future for the arts in Darlington that was financially sustainable.

“We would have had a series of cash crises and would have found ourselves in a bleak situation in 12 months’ time.”

However, people at the meeting questioned whether the consultation was a “done deal” because the authority had already applied for a grant from the Arts Council for the new centre.

Council leader Councillor Bill Dixon said this was the only opportunity to apply for the grant and, if the Arts Centre did close, then the council would have been criticised for not having a “Plan B”.

Following the meeting, members of Darlington for Culture said it had faith in its business plan.

Chairman Nick Brewster said the organisation could keep the arts centre open with a £210,000 subsidy.

However, the council and Darlington for Culture could not agree on the number of existing staff to be retained, he said.

He added: “We are still working with our members and other organisations. We feel we can run the arts centre as a proper arts centre.”