THE charitable trust set to take over the running of Abergavenny's Borough Theatre is unlikely to be in place until at least the autumn.

Ken Caswell, the prospective chairman of the trust met with members of the town council recently to provide an update on its progress and said that the trust, which was due to take over the running of the theatre from Monmouthshire County Council in April, was still not operative and only existed in 'shadow' form and is as such unlikely to be in place until later this year.

Mr Caswell then outlined how the process had advanced, explaining how board members had been selected and how 'protracted negotiations' with Monmouthshire County Council had been made longer by changes in personnel and an initially uncertain approach as to how the formation of the trust should proceed.

He also drew attention to key issues including the need for the trust to pay only a peppercorn rent for the theatre building, the attitude of the Arts Council of Wales to the building itself and the need for refurbishment.

Tribute was paid by Mr Caswell to theatre manager Nick Banwell for the varied programme of events presented at the Borough Theatre and to 'one or two key councillors' who had given support when negotiations were at crucial points.

He added that there was still 'considerable work' to be done once the trust agreement is finally completed - hopefully by October.

Following the meeting, which also looked at the financial guarantees made by Monmouthshire County Council regarding the future funding of the theatre and some of its 'operational problems', Mr Caswell was asked to meet with Marion Pearse and Laurie Jones, representatives of Abergavenny Community Centre project to share his experiences of negotiating with Monmouthshire County Council.

Due to take over on April 1

In March the Abergavenny Chronicle reported that the future of the Borough Theatre had been secured for the next three years after grant funding had been confirmed by Monmouthshire County Council with the transfer agreement with the charitable trust due to take over the operation of the theatre from April 1 also confirmed by the authority's cabinet.

Cabinet members agreed to grant the trust £153,820 a year - a figure which allowed for additional costs that have been identified following a re-evaluation of the employment needs of the theatre.

The grant was secured for the next three years of the agreement - and beyond if it can be proved that the grant funding is still required.

Speaking at the time Councillor Giles Howard said, "This report ties up many of the loose ends surrounding the future of the Borough Theatre. It's been an extraordinarily long drawn out process but the Borough Theatre has a good reputation and attracts companies from the West End stage to perform there and we needed to safeguard its future.

"While the theatre establishes itself over the coming years we as an authority also need to continue to support it."

Cabinet members also agreed that should there be any unforeseen significant cost that could not be managed by the trust in each of the first three years, this cost would be funded from the authority's reserves with provision also made for ongoing support after 2015.

"One thing is for sure, there is not going to be a cliff edge in 2015.

"The three-year period enables the trust to become independent of us. It is being set free in a civic sense, but will still be attached at the end of three years if they still need our financial support," he said.

Members were told that the trust would be paying a nominal rent for the lease, which had originally not been considered as best value for the premises but was later allowed under the General Disposal Consent Order (Wales) 2003 which allows for the disposal of a building by way of a long lease.

Commenting on the delay in the transfer to the trust, a spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said, 'We are aware that the programme has slipped but we are on target for an autumn transfer."

"We are working closely with the committee to ensure an orderly and efficient change over of responsibility."