Waltham Forest Hall Hire Charges
Thursday, May 14th, 2009One of the frustrations of trying to promote music in this borough is the lack of decent venues. This is especially annoying when the councils halls have been quite consciously priced out of the range of amateur promotions like the folk club.
With that in mind this report from the local paper seems quite encouraging…
WALTHAM FOREST: Council in hall hire u-turn
THE COUNCIL will slash hall hire charge fees again in a further admission that increased charges have driven community groups away.
The cabinet will on Wednesday rubber-stamp a new charging policy for Walthamstow and Chingford Assembly halls, which would see the cost of commercial and community hire for arts and entertainment on Friday nights halved.
The measure, which follows a decision to allow groups to apply for price reductions, is the latest attempt to try and attract groups back to the halls.
A cabinet report, signed off by arts cabinet member Geraldine Reardon, said: “The introduction of reduction by application ensures that valued cultural and community activities for peak time use can be offered at an affordable cost.
“However the evidence of council services relocating conferences to alternative venues suggests that, at least within this market, the halls remain overpriced for off-peak use.”
The council provoked fury two years ago when it sharply increased hall charge hire fees.
Weekday fees at Chingford Assembly Hall quadrupled, Walthamstow Assembly Hall’s nearly doubled and weekend day rates were replaced by a more expensive blanket fee of £336.
Yvonne Bailey, who founded youth group Kreative Culture Klub, was forced to hold the group’s annual acclaimed awards Young, Gifted & Black awards ceremony on a Tuesday night because the Friday fee had gone up to £3,000.
She said: “I am pleased the council has now reduced the rates, they were far too expensive for groups like ours and we may look to hire it out more often now.”
A council report on halls pricing found that a consquence of the 2007 inflation-busting price hike was a “reduction in cultural and community use.”
Cllr Matt Davis, Conservative group leader, said: “Both the Conservative group and the scrutiny committee warned that the price increases would lead to a loss in usage, and that is exactly what has happened, particularly in Chingford.
“It is a council policy decision, it is more interested in spending money on oppressing residents rather than on community facilities.”
The policy of allowing groups to apply for a reduction, which the council says brought in an extra £7,011 last year, has also proved controversial.
Applicants need to convince the council that their hire of the hall contributes to “council priorities”, leading to claims from opposition councillors that the issue of hall hire is being politicised.
