Revamped arts centre loses £125,000 funding

Jacksons Lane in Highgate is among 53 venues in London and a string of bodies across the South-East facing potentially disastrous cuts.

Another venue affected is the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.

Jacksons Lane has been told that its annual grant of £125,000 will be withdrawn in the spring.

Arts Council England has blamed Haringey council, which owns the building, for the loss of the grant - almost half of the venue's turnover of £600,000. It believes Haringey has not acted as a "responsible landlord" and the building is no longer regarded as a suitable venue for 21st century audiences and artists.

A spokeswoman said the Arts Council has had concerns for several years over the centre's viability.

Haringey and the venue intend to appeal against the decision.

Lorna Reith, the council's cabinet member for community cohesion and involvement, said: "We are surprised by this decision and the reasons given for it. Haringey council is committed to supporting Jacksons Lane. We provide annual revenue support and have recently completed major repairs, with total funding of £559,500 over the past two years."

The Grade II-listed building, which serves more than 100,000 people a year, was forced to close a year ago after storm damage.

It is due to reopen on 8 January with a new roof and a new sprung dance f loor in its large upstairs studio, among other improvements.

Insurance funded some of the repair bill but it is thought some of the work could have been avoided by more regular maintenance.

The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, which opened in 1965, has been told by the Arts Council that it will receive a final grant of £447,799 in April before losing all funding the following year.

The funder believes the theatre, while popular, has not developed enough new work or broadened its audiences despite years of concern.

It said: "While some progress has been made, unfortunately we do not consider it enough to justify renewing our funding beyond March 2009."

The Arts Council said its grant was a small proportion of the theatre's £2.8million turnover and it hoped transitional funding would help it survive.

James Barber, the theatre's director, said the danger was that cuts would force the venue to be more commercial, hitting the development of new audiences and new work.