Lancaster City councillors agreed to keep Morecambe’s The Platform entertainment venue open until the end of 2024 at a rowdy council meeting in Morecambe Town Hall on Wednesday – but Tourist Information Centres in Morecambe and Lancaster will close.
The council is facing ongoing budgetary pressures as a result of rising costs and cuts to government funding for services, and various amenities are under threat. The cuts have prompted fury from many residents, with online petitions launched to try to maintain funding.
The latest, from the Friends of Lancaster City Museum, urged the council to keep Lancaster City Museum open six days a week, but the Council has now voted to reduce hours, a decision described as shortsighted.
Lancaster no longer gets any central government precept funding, and has lost close to £100 million in central government funding in recent years.
Lancaster and Wyresdale MP Cat Smith opposed the Platform’s closure, but Tory MP Morecambe and Lunesdale MP David Morris seems in denial of funding issues. In his Lancaster Guardian column last week he seemed to suggest funding issues were of the Council’s own making, and advocated privatisation of The Platform as one solution.
Although Wednesday night’s Council meeting, held in Morecambe Town Hall, was adjourned after the police were called to a disruption in the Public Gallery on another issue, funding for the continuance of The Platform venue until the end of March 2024 had already been agreed.
Beyond Radio reports Conservative councillors voted for budget by mistake, their leader met with derision by others after realising the error.
Lancaster City Council’s cabinet revised its budget proposals to ensure the long term sustainable future for the Platform entertainment venue in Morecambe following public feedback.
Both Visitor Information Centres, Lancaster’s located in The Storey, Morecambe’s part of The Platform, cost the council around £250,000 a year to run – and will the close at the end of this summer, to disappointment from those opposing the cuts. No footfall data appears to have been provided in publicly available documentation immediately connected to the meeting.
“The Visitor Centre is also the booking box office for the Platform,” noted Roger Ditchfield in a post on the Lancaster Past and Present Facebook group, “and its closure will reduce ticket sales, making it more likely that the Platform Theatre will close in 2024.
“Many of our aging local residents who currently support the Platform are unable to purchase their tickets ‘online’, he argued, although several senior citizens responded to counter his claim “and consequently ticket sales will fall and some locals will be deprived from the opportunity to enjoy the many excellent events hosted at the Platform Theatre.”
Councillors argue more tourists now use online visitor information and ticket sale services, suggesting reducing footfall to local Tourist Information Centres makes them unviable. Opponents point to Morecambe’s TIC location as a perfect hub to promote the area when the Eden Centre opens in a few years time.
“It is impossible to determine in monetary terms the service that the VC contributes to the economy of Morecambe,” says Roger. “There is constant stream of visitors and potential house buyers asking for advice and information on all things Morecambe, from the highly knowledgeable and dedicated staff resulting in money being spent in the town that otherwise would have stayed in people’s wallets and purses.
“The Visitor Centre is ideally located, especially with the advent of the Eden project, to meet the needs of an increased number of visitors in a face to face environment.
“I urge everyone to keep the pressure on their local Councillors to ensure that both venues remain open for the benefit of visitors, locals and the economy of Morecambe.”
“15 Minute City” protest
The meeting was adjourned after campaigners protested about controversial plans for “15 minute cities”. Beyond Radio reported protesters sat in the public gallery at the meeting, displaying signs which said “Stop Zoning Morecambe”.
A number of UK councils have put forward ideas for 15 or 20 minute cities – although Lancaster City Council is not one of them, and a leading city councillor said there were no plans to use the idea for any specific areas in the Lancaster and Morecambe district at present.
Web Links
• BBC News: Lancaster City Council to cut funding to museums and visitor centres
• Beyond Radio: Conservatives vote for budget by mistake as chaos ensues at Morecambe Town Hall
Chaos ensued at a crunch council meeting as Tory councillors voted in favour of the budget “in error”. The 2023/24 Lancaster City Council budget proposals were agreed unanimously by councillors at a meeting at Morecambe Town Hall on Wednesday night
Police removed a man who was disrupting events and arguing with council staff about having to sign a visitor’s book