Statement from St. Georges Theatre Development Trust
on Islington Council's agreement that the building should revert to use as a place of worship and to House on the Rock's development plans.

30th March 2005

Our trust was incorporated as a registered company two years ago. Our aims include the development of arts activities and we are a buildings preservation trust dedicated to the creative development of St Georges Theatre.  We have applied for charitable status and are open to public account and community participation. Our vision is to create an international arts centre serving and involving the culturally diverse community which lives in our neighbourhood. Our core members and our associates cover a very wide range of skills and capabilities.  We are prepared to hold on to our vision in the long term and will persist in our efforts to achieve our aim.

The St. Georges Theatre Development Trust condemns Islington Council's failure to undertake a sufficiently thorough and widespread consultation with the communities affected by their decision. There has been no assurance that the arts facilities lost to the community through their action are to be replaced.  This failure contravenes Islington's stated policy.

The recent occupation of the building by the Circle Community Centre has brought the plight of the building to wider sections of the community and there are now moves by local people to try to prevent the House on the Rock, a Nigerian based pentecostal protestant church, from developing the building.  

The Council's agreement to the plans includes a section s106 which would tie into the planning consent a code of management which would guarantee arts and community use of the building has excited the interest of some local residents and others in the campaign to keep St Georges as a theatre.  Other people have suggested other forms of co-ownership with House in the Rock.

The Trust has tried to ensure through discussion with HOUSE ON THE ROCK and their architects that the plans for the internal space can accommodate a number of performance configurations. Nevertheless, the St Georges Theatre Development Trust does not believe in the possibility of sharing control or ownership of the building with House on the Rock.

We believe an integrated and open arts practice in the building would be impossible given the restrictions which House on the Rock have already stated must apply in the building.  An arts practice must be based on free expression and must be challenging and diverse.  We do not doubt that occasional use can be made of the building for performances and community meetings.  We would point out, however, that there is already a considerable supply of community meeting rooms in the area.

We will not co-operate with any scheme which makes it appear credible that an arts practice can take place in the building given the current ownership. We believe that our participation in any such scheme will allow Islington Council to make an argument that it has not contravened its own stated policy in making a planning decision which surrenders an arts, entertainment or cultural facility. The Council has been complicit in a major loss of an arts facility to the community.

We also wish to make a moral argument. This building was built for the people of the area by the extraordinarily internationally oriented architect who was the surveyor of the Tufnell Park Estate at the time.  The Church of England congregation moved out of the building in the late 60s because the space was unsuitable for their requirements.  The church building was then bought by a charitable company whose aim was to produce Shakespearean theatre there.  The controllers of this charity then managed to transfer the property to a privately owned company in the early 90s. This transfer, for which the building was valued at £100,000, was made offshore beyond the reach of regulatory authorities.

The man who inherited and sold the property just over ten years later to House on the Rock did so for a sum of £1.2 million.  We have made appeals to the Charity Commission and will continue to do so. This story represents outrageous and illegal profiteering at the expense of the community and the Church of England.  The House on the Rock is now complicit in this. They have bought the building for well over the market price. This is in contravention to the law governing charities and we are making another appeal to the Charity Commission.

Furthermore we want the Council Planning Department to enforce the repair orders which they have issued as the guardians of the building's listed status. We support Save London Theatres Campaign and the Theatres Trust in their efforts to conserve the building as a theatre space. We are open to discussion and mutually agreed activities with all who have a genuine interest in the building as a creative asset in the community.

We support House on the Rock's efforts to restore and safeguard the fabric of the building.  We hope this will lead to increased community access to this remarkable creative asset. Their project though well supported and apparently well resourced in its initial stages appears fragile to us given that their congregation of 700 is based in North West London and that there are a considerable number of evangelical churches already active in our area.

Our vision remains and we will be working to sustain that vision. We will be watching out for the long term interests of the building and continuing to act as a focus for the development of an international arts and performance centre at St Georges Theatre.

30th March 2005
Jonathan Chadwick