There have been some rumours, shocked posts and, quite frankly, lies circulating recently regarding the future of the Pavilion.
The Pavilion is just on the edge of my ward, but I have no influence or reason to post about it other than the fact I believe it’s an incredibly important part of Exmouth’s arts scene.
So, let me be clear - Unless the roof were to become unsafe, the Pavilion will not be closing, demolished, moved or transported to the moon any time soon.
I can’t bear it when people are deliberately scaremongering or spreading mistruths, probably for political gain. So, here‘s what I see as the truth.
- There was a meeting of the LED forum in early January to discuss the situation with the roof, which has been leaking.
- Significant investment is required to repair this fully and permanently (Approx £400,000)
- At this point, it is difficult for EDDC to find that money.
- Officers were asked to go away and find a temporary, cheaper solution to buy time to locate funds or plan for the future.
- Some other options were discussed including closing the Pavilion entirely. Nobody wanted this to happen.
- There was some discussion about the long term future - moving it / revamping / rebuilding it. This discussion was all hypothetical - in short, this won’t happen any time soon, if at all.
In short, everybody wants to keep it open and EDDC are looking at ways to make that happen.
Oh, and just as an aside, Exmouth Town Council have not said it will lend EDDC the money for the roof, neither has this been discussed.
Me - onstage at The Pavilion!
Why is it in such a poor condition?
Here comes the usual Tory bashing bit - it had to be here somewhere, didn’t it?! ;)
The Pavilion has not been maintained properly for years - the current administration have been looking at this situation for the last 4 years and are actually looking to deal with it. It’s not new and it’s not rocket science. If you don’t look after something it falls apart.
EDDC were forced to bail out LED, who run the Pavilion and other leisure services, during COVID to the tune of £1 million. We were assured by various government sources that this would be reimbursed as it was in most places. This hasn’t happened - so those reserves that we could have used to do this have been eaten up elsewhere. It sucks, quite frankly, that we’re in a position where we have a balanced budget but because of years of no investment and Conservative government lies, we’re not in a position to use it pro-actively. The council has spent most of the past 4 years undoing years of costly mistakes and lack of investment caused over the last decades in East Devon.
I also note the efforts of our MP Simon Jupp to secure funding to secure the £1 million used to bail out LED. Though ultimately unsuccessful, I welcome his reassurances that such efforts were made.
By the way, I’ll not say where some of these rumours have started, but certain councillors would be wise to watch meetings online before making sweeping statements that do not match with the facts.