Proposal received for Stroud Subscription Rooms
Published: Tuesday, 6 March, 2018
Stroud District Council has received a proposal from a prospective tenant to run Stroud Subscription Rooms.
The proposal from Stroud Town Council was received before the noon deadline of today (Monday, March 5) and details of it will be available on the district council’s website on Wednesday, March 7 by 5pm.
There will be a public consultation event on it later this month, before the council’s next strategy and resources committee meeting.
Members of district council staff and elected district councillors will be on hand at that event on Saturday, March 17 from 10am until noon in the George Room in the Subscription Rooms to answer questions.
After the public consultation event, a group consisting of the district council’s four party leaders will review the proposal and the public consultation response, then make a recommendation to the council’s strategy and resources committee.
That meeting will take place at Ebley Mill on Thursday, April 12, from 7pm.
Council leader Doina Cornell said:
“We are having to review the lease at a time when there is pressure on finances to try and preserve council services as best we can. We look forward to reading the proposal.”
Stroud District Council made a decision in December not to sell the freehold of Stroud Subscription Rooms and the associated forecourt, then invited bids from prospective tenants to run the iconic venue.
The process started in October 2016 when all political parties at Stroud District Council agreed to a review of the Subscription Rooms because it is no longer able to afford to continue to run the 184-year-old venue.
An all-party task and finish group was set up to investigate possible options and it was advertised for sale in July 2017. However after the council listened to public concerns about selling it, it was withdrawn from sale in December 2017 and bids were invited from prospective tenants instead.