Council pledges £800,000 for Ayr Gaiety

Oct 8 2010 by Edwin Lawrence, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

IT LOOKS like good news today (Thursday) for the Gaiety Theatre.

For South Ayrshire Council is set to commit £800,000 to help get it re-opened.

But that kind of money comes with strings attached.

And the council wants a bigger say in planning a new-look Gaiety.

It’s still not clear when community group, the Gaiety Partnership, will get the keys.

And talks will establish whether or not the council transfers ownership.

Or whether the partnership simply gets a long lease.

The council is now ready to bring forward £500,000 it pledged.

This matches the £500,000 secured from the Scottish Government, as part of the £2 million town centre regeneration cash.

The council is also prepared to offer a repayable loan of £300,000 to the Gaiety Partnership.

This money would come from the Ayr Common Good Fund, which the council manages.

The report in front of councillors also recommends the setting up of a steering group.

And three councillors will be among those on this group, which will have ‘an advisory and mentoring role’.

The report has been prepared by top officials in the council’s corporate management team.

And it claims the Gaiety Partnership business case ‘is not currently robust enough in terms of commercial sustainability’.

The report also highlights talks which have taken place with the University of the West of Scotland.

And both the university and the council are keen to see the Gaiety as a ‘centre of excellence for education and training’.

But how that will impact on shows is not made clear.

Concern over the Gaiety still runs deep in Ayr.

And Revd Fraser Aitken spoke about it from his pulpit in Ayr St Columba Church on Sunday.

The minister later told the Post: “The Gaiety is an integral part of the town.

“And its closure has been a loss not just to Ayr, but to the whole south-west of Scotland.”

However, councillors and politicians are upbeat that the Gaiety can re-establish itself.

John Scott MSP said: “The active involvement of the University of the West of Scotland is a very positive step which will help strengthen the partnership approach being taken towards re-opening the Gaiety.”

The Tory MSP for Ayr said the decision to bring forward its contribution of £500,000 is also ‘a welcome confirmation of the council’s commitment’.

Former South Ayrshire Council leader Ian Welsh is on the board of the Gaiety Partnership.

And he is also a member of the university’s governing body.

Mr Welsh said: “This report marks a sea-change for the council.

“We are building a wider coalition of partners.

“And we can now get things moving.”

Mr Welsh said the council cash will fund an upgrade of the café/bar area.

And this should re-open next year, in advance of a hoped-for 2011 panto at the Gaiety.

Mr Welsh admitted: “We’ll need about £1 million for further improvements.”

But he is optimistic that the Gaiety Partnership can now go on to raise the cash.

Meanwhile, scorn was heaped on the council report by Ian Gordon, manager of the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow.

Mr Gordon – one of the original bidders to take over the Gaiety – called for an investigation.

He said: “The report says the Ayr Gaiety Partnership does not have a robust or sustainable business plan, but council still intends to give them a £300,000 interest-free loan.

“The council is also accelerating a further £500,000 for refurbishment.

“But the most outrageous part of the report is the suggestion to transfer ownership.”