Planning application approved for former Saville Theatre

Camden Council's Planning Committee has granted planning permission to redevelop the theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Responding to the decision, Theatres Trust's CEO Joshua McTaggart says:

"Theatres Trust believes that the scheme for the former Saville Theatre that has been granted planning permission is a missed opportunity to deliver something truly transformative for both the building and the local area.

"While Theatres Trust shares Camden Council’s ambition to see the building returned to use, so it can contribute to economic growth and placemaking in the West End, Theatres Trust maintains that the development will not deliver the venue’s full potential, both economically and culturally, for this vitally important area.

"A 9-storey hotel and a 294-seat subterranean performance space is an inferior alternative to the site’s true potential. A larger-scale theatre scheme is absolutely deliverable. Compared with the complexity and cost of this proposed scheme, a theatre project would be less risky, less disruptive, and provide significantly greater long-term cultural and economic benefits to Camden and the West End."

Read our full response to the planning application for further details of the case.

Photo credit: Ian Grundy