Memorandum from Councillor Bernard Atha,
OBE, Leeds City Council (DDB 107)
I would be grateful if I could 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 CITY
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 redevelopment, 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, 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 indicate 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.
March 2004
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