Lessons from Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

Anyone thinking of promoting a new theatre to replace Thornbury's Armstrong Hall would be well advised to read about the trials and tribulations of Aylesbury's Waterside Theatre.
Planning permission was granted in 2006 with a budgeted cost of £25million which had risen to £47million by the time of opening in 2010.
The Council appointed Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) to manage the venue with an annual subsidy of £355,000, £1,000 per day raised via council tax from the 56,000 population of the town. ATG was going from strength to strength with profits of £2.3 million in 2009 which rose to £16.3 million in 2011, through the 39 venues it then operated.
In 2016 the Council negotiated a reduction in subsidy to be implemented over 5 years driven principally by their disappointment with the time to grow audiences. 
Lessons:

1. Expect the budgeted cost of a new venue to double.
2. Ensure that a sound business case can be produced without the need for subsidy from the public purse.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aylesbury_Waterside_Theatre
https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2015/aylesbury-cuts-subsidy-to-atg-for-waterside-theatre/

Nirvana?

Whilst delighted with the recognition of Thornbury as the fourth best town to live, I was a little uncertain about the reference to Nirvana so I looked in the Cambridge Encyclopaedia. There it is described as: “… the attainment of supreme bliss, tranquillity, and purity, when the fires of desire are extinguished.” Not quite how I would describe Thornbury but perhaps that’s how outsiders see us?