Public given its say on whether Futurist Theatre has a future

Campaigners who are determined the show will go on were among the audience at a first round of public sessions when consultants outlined proposals to the Futurist Task Group.

The verdict from the experts has not gone down well – that it would be "commercial suicide" to attempt to re-establish the venue as a theatre, and the site should be cleared for a wider scheme, possibly a casino in the town hall.

But the Futurist Task Group insists nothing has been decided until it presents its recommendations to the council in the autumn.

The panel is hosting two more public sessions this month, and the first event, with planning consultants and an architect, will take place at 2pm on Thursday.

The task group will again take the opportunity to listen to presentations and pose questions to help inform their work, and members of the public will be able to observe the discussions.

The second session, which will form part of the formal public consultation, take place on Monday, July 19, and provide an opportunity to quiz councillors.

The informal drop-in session, from 9.30am until 7pm, will give members of the public the opportunity to talk to members of the task group and complete a questionnaire.

Both sessions will take place in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall, St Nicholas Street, Scarborough – the public gallery will also be open for this week's session.

Task group chairman David Jeffels said: "The task group has already learnt so much about the issues surrounding the Futurist debate from the sessions we hosted earlier this month, and we are sure these next two sessions will be just as informative.

"We are particularly looking forward to the first public consultation event on July 19, where we hope anyone who has an interest in the future of the theatre will take the opportunity to come along and talk to us on an informal basis and complete the consultation questionnaire.

"We continue to stress how open this process is and all the information we gather will assist us in putting together our final report later in the year."