Future of the Beck Theatre

The latest update on the future of the Beck Theatre was disclosed and debated at last Thursday’s meeting of Hillingdon Council. It was encouraging, with four proposals from six potential operators, but also revealing on other matters. 

It now appears that the Council carried out a review of the future of the area around the Beck Theatre which apparently concluded that the site was unsuitable for residential development. That implies that the option of development must have been on the table to begin with. More, a good deal of worry and distrust would have been avoided if this conclusion had been made public far sooner. Cllr Bianco is also reported to have made a serious allegation against the outgoing operators of the Theatre. All that we will say is that, in making it, he cannot now deny that the Theatre is commercially viable, even to the point of being able to provide everything for the local community that the current deal does. 

Commenting on the latest developments, Liberal Democrat spokesman Tom Cottew said: “It is encouraging that there is a now a decent prospect that the Theatre and the jobs of those working there can be saved. What emerged at the Council Meeting shows that closure cannot be justified on economic grounds. No Liberal Democrat Council would have communicated so poorly on this issue, nor handled it so badly. It is not surprising that the Council do not want an inquiry into their bungling.”