THE CORONET THEATRE (Hansard, 11 April 1973)

§ BARONESS STOCKS
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT (LORD SANDFORD)
My Lords, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and I have every confidence that the present members of the Listing Committee of the Historic Buildings Council have the knowledge, experience and judgment to give the proper advice in cases such as this.

§ BARONESS STOCKS
My Lords, as a suplementary question may I ask whether the noble Lord is aware of the environmental conditions which are here concerned? If the noble Earl the Leader of the House will wait one moment, I can assure him that I am not reading a supplementary question; I am holding in my hand a picture postcard which has on it a date that I wish to quote accurately. Is the noble Lord aware that in Kensington 10,000 signatures have been collected, from mainly young people in the area, in support of their belief that the Coronet is, or should be, a viable theatre? Is he aware that they are supported in theatre 642 circles by such people as Sir Alec Guinness, the late Dame Sybil Thorndike, and many others? Is he further aware that there is strong support for the possibility of making the Coronet a viable theatre? Lastly, is he aware that on November 26, 1898, a publication called The Era described what was then the new Coronet as a theatre of which the County of London could well be proud"?

§ LORD SANDFORD
My Lords, I am aware of almost all of that. If there is such strong local feeling—and I know there is—the local authority, the Kensington and Chelsea Council, can deal with the matter by embracing this theatre as a conservation area and using the powers now available under Section 8 of the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act 1972 to deal with it. But I would confirm that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State and I have already received a deputation from the Theatres Advisory Council about the whole future of theatres in London, in general, and my right honourable friend has agreed to receive another deputation about this theatre in particular.

§ BARONESS STOCKS
My Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for his helpful answer, may I ask whether he is aware (and I am sure that in another connection he must be) that the Book of Common Prayer contains a service in which the priest is required to say: Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen"?

§ LORD MAELOR
My Lords, perhaps we should correct one observation made by my noble friend. She referred to Dame Sybil Thorndike as "the late Dame". She is, I think, very much alive.

§ LORD SEGAL
My Lords, would not the Government encourage as a general principle the maintenance of the activities of theatres away from the crowded areas of the West End? Is not this one of the theatres that serve a special population and should it not be encouraged to remain viable?

§ LORD SANDFORD
Yes, my Lords: I would agree with that as a general proposition.

§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILL
My Lords, can the noble Lord say how many 643 there are on the Listing Committee, and how many of these are women?

§ LORD SANDFORD
My Lords, there were seven at the time of the original decision, but the chairmanship and membership changed and there were five at the time when the Secretary of State asked them to reconsider their decision and they confirmed the original decision. There were no women on the Listing Committee on either of those occasions.

§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILL
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether this is not one answer to my noble friend Lady Stocks? Will the Government not learn that the advice and help of women, particularly in matters of this kind, is an enormous contribution? Why do the Government continue to make mistakes and then finally amend these lists and invite women to join them?

§ LORD SANDFORD
My Lords, I can assure the noble Baroness that that point of view, which is ever before us, will be taken especially into account when we are considering new appointments to the Historic Buildings Council.

§ LORD KENNET
My Lords, is it not really the point that local authorities ought to have power to preserve any building anywhere if their people really want it, as in this case? The Secretary of State should have a reserve power behind that so as to avoid more and more of these socially useful buildings being swept away by the boring old developers and speculators.

§ LORD SANDFORD
My Lords, as the noble Lord knows, only last year we introduced for the first time power to control the demolition of unlisted buildings in conservation areas. I am sure the noble Lord will agree that was a useful step. In the course of the debate we are about to begin we can look into the suggestions he has just made.

THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (EARL JELLICOE)
My Lords, I wonder whether I might intervene for a second to congratulate the noble Baroness and my semi-kinswoman on the dexterity she has shown, as she almost invariably does, in staying within the strictest confines of our Rules of Order.