https:\/\/youtu.be\/6ntCj6CxvZo?si=opEQYYZSgRXfOqDI<\/a><\/p>\nBelow is a published article on the subject published in the Portsmouth News:
\nTitchfield Festival Theatre\u2019s appeal against a planning enforcement notice entered a third day, with a planning inspector set to decide the fate of part of a 450-seat theatre, which is part of the St Margaret\u2019s Lane site. Fareham Borough Council said it was built without permission, but this is disputed by the theatre.<\/p>\n
On the third day of the inquiry, planning inspector Nancy Thomas heard evidence from Fareham Borough Council\u2019s town planning expert Stephen Jupp to support an enforcement planning notice the authority issued against the charity.
\nHe began by answering questions from the council\u2019s barrister Emma Dring and then from Titchfield Festival Theatre\u2019s KC, Megan Thomas. The inquiry had already heard evidence from Ian Donohue, the theatre\u2019s planning expert on day two.
\nUnder questioning from Emma Dring, Mr Jupp said the development was clearly in conflict with planning policies. The theatre had not gone through the procedure of looking for alternative sites, a \u2018sequential test\u2019 before expanding and should have looked at Fareham for a satellite site. He said the theatre was not just serving a local need but had a wider client base than just Titchfield as evidenced by Steve Clark, from a Portsmouth-based theatre company who gave a representation at the inquiry on the first day.
\nMr Jupp had calculated that with 102 performances per year, at 70 per cent capacity, the Arden Theatre alone would generate 33,000 visitors. This intensity and expansion meant that the existing planning application had been breached and could not be considered a small-scale rural development. It materially changed and so new planning permission should have been sought.<\/p>\n
Under cross-examination, Mr Jupp said to Megan Thomas: \u201cThere was no way of mitigating harm that had already taken place or future harm of parking, noise and [road] safety. Harm occurs and continues to occur.\u201d
\nMegan Thomas said the theatre is a community and leisure facility and part of the cultural infrastructure and located in the countryside. As such there is a policy where countryside expansion should be allowed if there is a local need.
\nThere was much back and forth over the distinction of local and regional need, and Ms Thomas said there was not another theatre nearby that offered the community benefits and facilities Titchfield Festival Theatre offered.
\nWhile Mr Jupp agreed with the benefits of the venue, he said he was not placed to compare it to other theatres, like Portsmouth\u2019s Kings Theatre. He said it was also about the scale of expansion and harm caused to its locality that breached planning permission.<\/p>\n
Planning inspector Nancy Thomas also heard representations from four more Titchfield Festival Theatre supporters on Thursday morning who sat in the packed public gallery at The Holiday Inn, Fareham.
\nSarah Lock, of Locks Heath, who runs the Tots Rehabilitation programme at the venue, said she makes theatre accessible to a current group of 15, 18-month to preschool-age toddlers. She said: \u201cIt gives the children the opportunity to do shows with professional lights and music in an auditorium not offered elsewhere in the area. It brings together its parents and carers who have become good friends. The potential of losing that would be devastating.\u201d
\nTitchfield resident Donna Lennon said the community theatre has helped her mental health and her five-year-old daughter\u2019s stutter. She said it\u2019s a great facility for the children and gives them somewhere other than McDonald\u2019s to go to in the future. She said: \u201cIt\u2019s somewhere to go, very positive and good for the community.\u201d
\nVolunteer of six years, Jeanette Evans, runs the outreach programme at the Arden Theatre. She said: \u201cWe do so much for the mental health and emotional support of large numbers in the community. We go out into the community to rest homes, to lunch clubs, to local schools. By destroying the Arden you will be destroying the opportunities to a huge amount of people.\u201d
\nStewart Trotter, talked about Titchfield Theatre\u2019s cultural importance \u2018making a bond with Shakespeare\u2019. He said there is growing evidence that Shakespeare was in Titchfield and cited a letter signed by the Earl of Southampton with the body of the letter in Shakespeare\u2019s handwriting.
\nThe inquiry continues into a fourth day at the Fareham Borough Council chamber. Closing arguments will be heard on Tuesday, May 21 virtually, with a decision from the Inspectorate by July 3. <\/p>\n
Quote of the Week <\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/If-music-be-the-food-of-love-play-on-768x384-1.webp\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Titchfield Festival Theatre The Fire of Sacrifice featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Precious recorded and produced by Ross Gill So last week I shared that the venue for our Year 2022 staged concert of Theophilus- the Musical was to have been St John\u2019s Church in Forton Road, Gosport. (and here, as promised is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ken-shearsmiths-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3191"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3196,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3191\/revisions\/3196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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