Peterborough’s Key Theatre and Werrington Leisure Centre to close in January

The Key Theatre will close on January 17, although the council is said to be in talks with potential alternative operators who may be able to run the theatre with no financial support required from the council.

People who have tickets for performances after this date will be issued a refund.

Public access to Werrington Leisure Centre will cease from January 1, although access to outdoor sports pitches will remain.

These decisions are expected to save the council £150,000 in the first six months of 2022 alone.

Consultation will now begin with staff affected at the Key Theatre. If the proposal proceeds, every effort will be made to redeploy staff and reduce the number of redundancies. Staff at the leisure centre will be redeployed elsewhere.

Deputy Leader of Peterborough City Council, Councillor Steve Allen, said: “This is not the kind of announcement that I or any of my colleagues want to be making, but it is essential that we make proposals such as this if we are to get the council’s finances on a more stable footing. We have said for some time that we face some difficult decisions on our road to achieving financial sustainability, however we will continue to look for ways to reopen these facilities as soon as possible. We are obtaining a commercial value for sale of the Key Theatre and are also in preliminary discussions with a number of interested parties.

“In the current financial year, both these facilities are forecast to make a significant loss and we cannot afford to let that continue. Ticket sales at the Key Theatre are significantly below forecast overall and income this year has been hampered by the theatre having to close for periods and to operate in a Covid-safe way at other times.

“We cannot operate services that generate a financial deficit and expect our communities to accept it. That is money we could be using to provide services for those in real need and to get us to a point where we can meet service demand with the money we have available each year.

“Our city has a bright future – there are so many examples of this, for example at Fletton Quays and the new university. We want to see the city continue to prosper and grow, but first we must resolve our financial situation.”

In the current financial year the Key Theatre is forecast to make a loss in the region of £300,000.

The leisure facilities are forecast to make a net loss for 2021/22 of £190,000, increasing to £205,000 for 2022/23. They will be closed until the start of the new school year in September 2022.

The leisure facilities are part of the school campus; school use of the facilities will continue unaffected.