Derby Arts and Theatre Association DATA
Council to Refurbish and Re-Open the Assembly Rooms

At the Council elections on 3rd May 2018, Labour lost political control of Derby City Council. Subsequently, the Conservatives formed a minority administration with support from Lib Dems and UKIP. The new administration announced that they intended to scrap the Music and Performance Venue project and refurbish and re-open the Assembly Rooms. DATA now awaits further details of this revised scheme and will press the amateurs' case for provision in the refurbishment scheme to remedy the Assembly Rooms well-acknowledged faults. In this connection, DATA was invited to an exclusive consultation meeting with representatives of the Council and their consultants (IPW) on 16th August 2018. The Council produced a Feasibility Stage Overview. In summary there will be two initial stages:

• Firstly, a building survey will identify the essential repairs required to re-open the building. It will also scope desirable improvements.
• Secondly, an architect led feasibility study involving a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and experts will determine the scope of work, the programme of works, the timeline and the cost. The study will consider how the user experience of the Assembly Rooms can be enhanced and how regeneration benefits can be captured.

This work is expected to be carried out between July and October 2018 by a team of multi-disciplinary consultants. The outcome from this work will inform a Council decision in early autumn 2018 on how the project progresses.

Nine representatives of DATA attended the consultation meeting on 16th August and gave the views of the amateur sector (based on our previously submitted wish list) on what is needed to make the Assembly Rooms refurbishment scheme a success. These views will be put with other feedback from consultations with various stakeholders.