LTS, Horsham Arts Centre (now "The Capitol") has had a mixed programme over the years. When it first opened in the 80s it was rolling in money and had everything from the London Philharmonic Orchestra to pre-West End shows and some folk music events. As with most local authority venues the enthusiasm from councillors has hit peaks and troughs and the revenue budget has been on the low side for years. One of the problems is sustaining audiences: the town is affluent and people are largely mobile and can choose to travel to about a dozen venues that are fairly local. The Hawth just up the road at Crawley (which has quite a bit of music programming and a folk festival) does well from Horsham residents. A sizeable number also commute to London on a daily basis so can take their arts spend there.

The venue has an auditorium with good acoustics that seats about 450 people, studio space that is flexible for audiences of up to about 100 people, spacious foyers with bars, and a small cinema that has been used for "Art House" type movies in the past but now shows mainstream stuff. There is certainly no reason why folk events could not take place there if people wanted them to. When I used to live in Horsham there was always a lot of politicking between various arts groups and this current debate seems to indicate that not much has changed.

Although I'm not a particular fan of Horsham District Council it is unfair for some people to paint them as the bad guys in all this. No local authority has a statutory duty to provide any arts provison - it is entirley discretionary spending - and Horsham has done better than most. It has just spent over 5 million pounds relaunching "The Capitol".