DDB 107 Leeds City Council
COUNCILLOR BERNARD ATHA OBE
Dear Clerk
I should be grateful if
would present this very brief case study to the Scrutiny Committee
on the Draft Disability Discrimination Bill, which highlights
a specific problem relating to Disability Access which impinges
on matters dealt with by the Bill.
Leeds Citv Varieties
Leeds City Varieties is
a small theatre which began its life a Century and a half ago
as the assembly rooms of the pub on the ground floor. In due course,
the assembly rooms became the Palace of Varieties an almost unique
relic of the Victorian Music Hall preserved exactly as it was
100 years ago. Many of the fabled Music Hall acts appeared there.
These include such well knowns as Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel,
Little Titch, Marie Lloyd and other names well known to the Music
Hall historian. In more recent times, it became internationally
known as the home of the Good Old Days, a programme that ran for
25 years and achieved outstanding success, in terms of viewing
figures.
When the theatre was faced
with closure and demolition for re-development, the City Council
stepped in and bought it knowing full well that it would be impossible
to organise the theatre in such a way that it
would make a profit
or even break-even. They saw the theatre as a unique asset to
the City for its historical importance. As the theatre is situated
above the pub, access to the auditorium is up a double staircase
to the stalls and a vertiginous flight of stairs to the dress
circle and an almost equally vertiginous staircase to the gods.
There is no practical
way in which even reasonable access could be provided for those
with ambulatory disabilities to make the theatre accessible, without
substantial alterations to the listed building and involving very
considerable expense.
An application is to be
made to the Heritage Lottery Fund for assistance in making the
theatre accessible and preliminary estimates of costs indicates
that unless a grant is made it
will be impossible
to carry out these alterations. If that is the case, the theatre
can only go on in breach of the disability requirement. if it
were found that the theatre owners, namely Leeds City Council,
were acting unreasonably then the theatre would have to close
and a unique institution lost.
The Council has been generous
over the years in not merely investing in the structure of the
theatre but in maintaining its operation at a cost of about a
quarter of a million pounds a year. It is seen as an important
part of the cultural life at Leeds and one of those unusual places,
which attract tourists to the City. The City, however, would not
be prepared to invest possibly two to three million pounds in
making the theatre accessible when there are so many constraints
on revenue and capital from Government and when there are so many
other pressing needs. The Council has an excellent record in making
its premises and its streets accessible for people with mobility
problems. It is committed to the principles of the Draft Disability
Discrimination Bill but may well find it impossible to meet the
financial consequences of the DDA in the case of the City Varieties.
Yours sincerely
COUNCILLOR BERNARD
ATHA OBE
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