Powys arts centres 'suffering a slow death' as budgets cut

Powys Council plans to cut £62,738 from funding for commissioned art services next year – matching the sum cut from the budget this year.

It will affect four arts venues including the Hafren Theatre in Newtown and Wyeside Arts Centre in Builth Wells, plus an art gallery and a community dance organisation.

And at a meeting of Powys County Council’s economy, residents and communities scrutiny committee on Monday, January 31, warned over the impact of the planned cuts.

Theatre Hafren in Newtown

Cllr Gareth Jones said: “Having spoken to Hafren, they have extreme worries about whether they will be able to survive.

“Hafren use a lot of this as seed funding to attract further money to survive.”

Culture and leisure portfolio holder Cllr Rachel Powell explained that these reductions had been agreed three years ago and would not be a “surprise”.

Cllr Powell said “Having some notice is helpful.

“We also have to be really mindful of the amount of arts organisations in Powys we don’t actually support.”

She said that it was estimated that there are up to 143 of these.

Cllr Rachel Powell

Cllr Powell said: “There are other sources of funding especially during Covid that arts organisations have been able to apply for.

“There is plenty of support out there.”

But Cllr Jones said that if the bigger arts centres in Powys fail there would be a “knock-on effect” to the arts groups below them that don’t receive funding, adding that pandemic funding would soon end.

Cllr Jackie Charlton said the arts centres had been forced to close because of the pandemic and then as public health measures eased opened with restrictions to their capacity in place.

She said: “They are the centre of our communities, what’s happened here is they have been given life support just so that you can turn it off again and leave them without a breathing space.”

Cllr Charlton added that she had no confidence that the decision had been properly evaluated.

Four arts projects successfully bid for grants totalling £25,000 from the Powys Covid Recovery fund, and Cllr Powell said she was surprised more hadn't applied.

Cllr Jeremy Pugh warned arts centres were suffering a “slow death”.

Cllr Powell replied: “It’s about working with them in view to public health and how arts and culture can support other initiatives under wellbeing.

“Long term it’s about collaboration, a future City of Culture bid would also raise the profile of arts and community groups and bring in further investment.”

The committee will feed back their view on the draft budget to be discussed again by the Independent/Conservative cabinet later this month.