Dudley Hippodrome restoration hopes dashed after council cabinet vote

Dudley Council's cabinet ruled a five-year plan to restore and reopen the historic theatre was unworkable.

Black Country Hippodrome Limited was given a five-year lease in December 2016 to revamp the site, which once hosted comic duo Laurel and Hardy in its heyday.

However the council said the group had failed to meet a series of milestones which was set out at the start of the plans.

In a statement, Dudley Council leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, said: “Unfortunately, its days as a theatre, which it has not been since the 1960s lets not forget, have long gone.

“Now is the time that we need to be realistic and accept that.

“The building has a wonderful history and we are very proud of our past.

"But at the same time we are committed to forging Dudley’s future, and at the moment the building is nothing but an eyesore.

“If we had the belief the campaign group was able to deliver what it was promising, then we would have been happy to have signed a longer lease.

“But the fact is they have not met four of the five milestones within the agreed timescales which they put down on paper themselves, just a year into the lease.

“It’s alarming and cannot be ignored.

“Everything is telling us that the plans are not viable.

“We cannot allow the building to remain empty and an eyesore for another 15 to 20 years. So we’re taking action now, we’re taking it back.

“It will be back in our hands and we will be looking to draw up some exciting plans for the site. We want to do something with it which folk in Dudley will be proud of.”

At the meeting, the cabinet unanimously approved recommendations to instruct the authority’s legal team to start procedures “leading to forfeiture of the lease”.

A further report will go before the cabinet at a meeting later in the year setting out proposals for the future use of the building and site.

The move could open the door for Dudley College which has said it would be interested knocking down the Hippodrome and regenerating the site to create a new site for students.

Campaigners, initially led by Malcolm Palmer and Geoff Fitzpatrick, have long fought to return the venue to its former glory.

In recent months the fight was taken up Black Country Hippodrome Limited aiming to secure much needed funding.

But their hopes now appear dashed by tonight's cabinet vote.