Reducing opening hours will protect venue claims council

A council is moving forward with plans to cut the opening hours of a theatre and cinema to “protect” its “long-term future” and ensure taxpayers’ money isn’t “wasted”.

Durham County Council has proposed to reduce operations at The Empire in Consett, which is currently open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10am and 3pm, by closing the venue on Tuesdays and curtailing opening hours on all other days by one hour.

Liberal Democrat councillor Elizabeth Scott blamed increases to National Insurance and a “very low take up” for the cuts.

Scott told the BBC: “We are doing the right thing to protect the long-term future of the theatre and ensure the council isn’t wasting taxpayers’ money opening the venue on days when no-one visits.”

However, Labour councillor Kevin Earley said the local authority, which is run jointly by independents, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, should “look for different ideas” to “make it viable” instead of reducing hours.

“If it starts getting less people going through the doors it becomes more difficult to justify what you’re spending keeping it open.

“The budget issue doesn’t mean just give up and cut, you have to look at this and say ‘this is an asset, not a problem’.”