Save Streatham Hill Theatre from change of use to a church

From Lambeth Council Minutes 22 January 2020

Councillor Liz Atkins to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Investment and
New Homes, Councillor Mathew Bennett:

Supplementary question

Councillor L. Atkins welcomed the recently published Streatham Investment and Growth Strategy 2019-30 and asked whether the Cabinet Member for Planning, Investment and New Homes would work with the Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre, Streatham BID and the current leaseholders to determine the meanwhile use of the building. Councillor L. Atkins asked the Cabinet Member to support plans, which had been put forward by the Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre, to carry out a viability study and to publicly endorse their bid to crowdfund costs through the Mayor’s CrowdFund London 2020 scheme and to provide funding through Lambeth’s Community Infrastructure Levy.

Supplementary answer

Councillor Bennett responded by stating he fully supported the work that had taken place to refurbish and rejuvenate Streatham Hill Theatre but recognised more still needed to be done. With this in mind, the Cabinet Member confirmed he was happy to support the suggestion that had been put forward by Councillor L. Atkins.

The 2020 Draft Lambeth Local Plan states: “The former Streatham Hill Theatre is Grade II listed and provides a transformative opportunity to provide a major leisure and entertainment venue with the potential for workspace for creative, digital and cultural industries.“ (p. 405) and “The council will support [its] … regeneration … to become a major leisure and entertainment venue alongside workspace for creative and cultural industries” (p. 410).

The Streatham Investment and Growth Strategy 2019-30 sets out plans to explore opportunities for Streatham Hill Theatre as part of a wider regeneration strategy for Streatham that aims to:

• challenge perceptions and attract inward Investment to Streatham;
• diversify the town centre economy;
• provide space for growth and enterprise;
• improve the resident and visitor experience;
• and progress development opportunities.

It states that “Successfully restoring this building would bring significant improvements to the public realm and historic/cultural fabric of the area, as well as delivering against a number of other objectives presented in this strategy (e.g. Strengthening and Diversifying the Town Centre).”

It’s almost Christmas and Panto season is well underway. Meanwhile,
campaigners to save the Streatham Hill Theatre are working towards a time when the landmark building, known most recently for being a bingo hall, will be transformed into a fully-fledged and diverse entertainment space, with a panto of its own playing again to full houses.

Growing support for the campaign to save the district’s own Sleeping Beauty, this historic 1920s theatre, was most evident just a few weeks ago when around a thousand people gathered to press the case for saving and re-launching the venue as a multi-purpose arts and entertainment space for the benefit of the community.

See the full press release here.