On Monday 26 January, Waverley’s Joint Planning Committee approved the planning application to demolish the Redgrave Theatre, along with boundary walls to Brightwell House and the cottage.
BBC South were present to film outside the Council Offices , and to conduct interviews with Theatre supporters, including Andrew Welch and David Wylde, Performers Together and Farnham Theatre Association.
Photographs courtesy of Mike Silver and Mike Bryan
This little building, of which we were once so proud has been allowed to become a derelict, festering eyesore. For heaven’s sake and out of respect for those who worked so hard to create it, give it a dignified end. Compassion comes in many forms.
It seems you perceive The Redgrave to be an irredeemable building with no thought for the activities that could, should and did happen within for the benefit and enjoyment of all the community. Perhaps you should reflect on the architect, Michael Blower’s philosophy of ‘new uses for old buildings’. There are plenty of examples of old buildings which have taken on a new life; we don’t just destroy the past because it irritates the eyes of a few. Renovation to restore the Redgrave’s unique qualities of acoustics and sightlines would be significantly less costly than rebuilding.