Yesterday I read with interest the article in SomersetClive which featured an interview with theatre and arts genius, Anthony Floyd-Blubber, in which he outlined the ways a White Elephant Enclosure could make money.
Having served on the WEE management committee from the time Smalltown and Dullbridge Town Council took over running it until my retirement in May this year I can confirm that he is absolutely wrong.
When SaDTC took on the WEE from Sadgebore District Council it was running at a loss of £50,000 a year. Under SaDTC ownership we managed very early on to turn that into a loss of £100,000, which everyone agreed was an incredible achievement.
Year on year the losses increased and are now at a staggering £194,000 per year. However, the figures show that income at the WEE is expected to total £50,000 next year (based on the income for this year), which, if you recall, is the exact sum that the WEE was costing Sadgebore over ten years ago.
These figures shows that the WEE is a resounding success.
Now I realise that some readers may find all of these numbers difficult to comprehend, heaven knows, we Councillors on the WEE Management Committee struggled at times, which is why we were all grateful to the Smalltown Culture and Arts Manager (SCAM), Debby Karmary for her regular reports telling us how well the WEE was doing.
Those reports would focus less on the money side of things and concentrate on what a marvellous job the SCAM was doing. The SCAM would provide us with a glowing report detailing exactly how many people had passed through the WEE doors each month.
Her figures would include theatre and arts users, community groups, cafe visitors, staff, the postman and lost tourists looking for directions. By counting everyone at least four times she has been able to demonstrate that some months over 1,500 people used the WEE.
This incredible usage means that every single resident in Smalltown and Dullbridge paid only £194.00 each to subsidise those scant numbers who actually used the WEE.
I think this represents excellent value for money.
To the people who suggest that the WEE is a failure and should be closed I ask – the budget request is only £194,000 more than the amount spent on Pinnacle Park. Would you consider closing Pinnacle Park? Just because the park is free to use and brings untold benefits to residents and visitors, with thousands of people enjoying it on a daily basis all year round, is it as important as the WEE?
Personally I have never been happy with the lack of detail in both the business plan and SCAM reports to the WEE Management Committee, but during my time as a member of the WEE Management Committee I felt it wasn’t my place to ask questions.
Fundamentally the question is ‘Should the Town Council continue to fund this underused community facility as other community facilities are?’ The Town Council don’t actually fund any of the other community facilities in Smalltown and Dullbridge, they all manage to get along fine without handouts, but it’s important that we have this facility, because otherwise we wouldn’t and then what we would do? Apart from not need to raise council tax for residents to cover the cost.
Personally I think the WEE is a great asset to Smalltown and we should continue to fund it. It’s a great facility which has squandered almost a million pounds of council tax payers money (not to mention all the other grants totalling more millions from the Council of Arts, Chernobyl-by-Sea slush fund and other sources).
So my conclusion is the WEE is never going to make money and should be closed.