The show must go on! Pantomime boss slams 'Scrooge' council for closing popular community theatre's new 465-seat venue just days before Christmas season starts in row over planning permission

A panto boss has branded his local council 'Scrooges' after they announced plans to shut down his secretly-built theatre just days before the start of the Christmas season. 

Kevin Fraser has declared that the show must go on despite being served with an enforcement notice over the 'stealth' construction of the 465 seater venue. 

The Artistic Director admits that the £1.7 million development in a Hampshire village with links to Shakespeare was carried out without planning permission - a move councillors said 'beggared belief'.

But he claims to be the victim of a 'vendetta' on the part of the local authority and refuses to let the proposed closure cast a pall over the festive season after Fareham Borough Council stepped in.

Locals have come out on the side of his community theatre company Titchfield Theatre Festival (TFT), which has been hosting performances at the venue since the summer.

TFT has been putting on plays, pantomimes and musicals for 13 years, and recently built a new theatre at back of their original venue - a converted barn which holds two auditoriums seating 100 and 200 audience members respectively.

After two failed attempts to get permission to convert a storage space on the site, in August last year, Mr Fraser sanctioned the covert building of the new venue more than twice the size.

The new Arden theatre even features an underground orchestra pit dwarfs the existing Acorn and Oak theatres.

FBC became aware of the new Arden Theatre and issued an Enforcement Notice which ordered the closure of the venue by February 29 next year, if the company does not appeal it.

Mr Fraser, 67, told MailOnline he would do exactly that if the notice is not withdrawn and says the theatre is not intimidated by the council's 'bully boy tactics'.

'Titchfield Festival Theatre is an incredibly successful community theatre company supported by thousands throughout the Borough and wider area,' he said.

'It is the largest community theatre in Europe as well as being the only fully sustainable green theatre in Europe.

'No mean achievement despite the constant harassment and vindictive vendetta it faces by Fareham Tory councillors.'

The council said it had been alerted to the new development earlier in the year, and that officers had warned the company that action could be taken if planning permission was not being obtained.

Ticket sales for pantomime Red Riding Hood - which opens this weekend - had surged on the back of the council's bid to shut them down. 

Chairman of the Planning Committee, Cllr Nick Walker, said: 'Titchfield Festival Theatre has left the Council with no option but to pursue this formal planning enforcement action.

'It is beggars belief that anyone would build a new 450-seat theatre without first securing planning permission.'

The latest development comes after a planning application for a 567-seat theatre was rejected in 2019, which was followed up by another rejected application later that year.

The council said this was because the site is 'unsustainable' and in a 'poorly accessible location outside the urban area', as well as offering 'inadequate levels of parking' which would lead to a 'significant increase in noise affecting neighbours'.

The TFT argues the Arden had been used as a theatre space for rehearsals for more than 10 years - which they claim means they didn't have to apply for planning permission to build.

The theatre has a Shakespeare mural as the playwright is thought to have links to the Hampshire village after an alleged affair with the Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, who sponsored him for a time.

Historians believe the playwright may have spent time in the village with his patron at Titchfield Abbey.

Kevin Fraser told MailOnline that they are trying to get the council to withdraw the order and, if that doesn't work, they will appeal it.

The TFT puts on 42 shows a year across their four venues which are very reasonably priced at a maximum of £14 for a play and £18 for a show. 

Locals have heaped praise on the theatre company, which has four venues, for giving local young people a chance to perform on stage.

Mother of two Claire Newlyn praised the 'valuable' theatre company, which hosts a youth theatre which 375 kids avail of, and said the situation was a 'classic example of politicians losing sight of who they serve'.

She said: 'The theatre is such a valuable addition to the local community for all ages. The productions are excellent and the workshops for children have helped to build confidence and great friendships. 

'The resistance and obstructiveness from Fareham Borough Council appears purely to be politically motivated and connected with their rival venue being built 10 minutes down the road. 

'They seem to have lost sight that supporting Titchfield Festival Theatre will result in a good outcome for the community and should be focused on collaborative partnerships with local enterprises rather than blocking and destroying something that the patrons and supporters hold dear. 

'A classic example of politicians losing sight of who they serve!'

One of Claire's children attends the theatre regularly and many kids in the area attend the youth theatre.

Other locals vented their frustration in response to the council's Facebook post sharing the planning enforcement order. 

One wrote: 'Such a fabulous resource in our community - giving children opportunities to learn and develop both on and off stage, giving our talented adult residents opportunities to perform and entertain (which they do to an incredible standard) and providing such a variety of entertaining plays, musicals and music. 

'TFT needs nurturing not restricting.'

Another wrote: 'Instead of being proud of the amazing Titchfield Festival Theatre and all their fantastic performances, once again as a council you are trying to put the boot in. Sour grapes or what?'

A third said: 'Such a fantastic local theatre, why would you want to challenge it?'

The council said the Arden Theatre, which is one of three venues on St Margret's Lane, did not having planning permission as it was built in a space granted for use as storage.

They said in a statement last week: 'Concerns were raised with the Council earlier this year about a lack of parking provision at a new theatre under construction at the rear of the existing Titchfield Festival Theatre venue on St Margaret's Lane. The site has approximately 35 on-site parking spaces.

'Officers visited the site and met with representatives of the theatre company who explained that work was underway to create a new 465-seat theatre. 

'Officers were shown around the development which includes a newly excavated underground orchestra pit beneath the stage and a complex of backstage changing rooms and rehearsal areas. 

'The new theatre has been created in a space which had previously been granted planning permission for use as storage.'

The council added that TFT had applied for planning permission to build a 567-seat theatre on the same site in 2019 - which was refused.

They said: 'Council officers warned the company that, without planning permission being obtained, the new venue was at risk of enforcement action being taken. 

'Despite this warning, various public performances have taken place with shows being advertised on the theatre company website throughout December and well into 2024.

'In 2019, Titchfield Festival Theatre Limited applied for planning permission for a 567-seat theatre at this location which is behind their existing smaller theatre premises.

'The application was refused by the Council as the site is in an unsustainable and poorly accessible location outside the urban area, has inadequate levels of parking spaces provided, and the new theatre would lead to a significant increase in noise affecting neighbours.

'A second application submitted later in 2019 was also refused planning permission.'

Mr Fraser told MailOnline: 'We're gonna get them to withdraw it first, if we can. They make it sound as if we've blithely gone ahead. 

'No, we took a lot of legal advice before we started even putting any spades in the ground, just to make sure that we were doing the right thing. 

'We knew that they would refuse permission because they're building their own theatre in the middle of Fareham.'

The council's theatre is set to cost £17.1million - ten times less than the Arden cost at £1.7million. 

Mr Fraser said the council fears the Arden will 'take their punters away' but says they are going after different markets. 

'They're gonna they're trying to attract big A-list shows like some of the big musicals that do tours which will cost 40-50 pounds a ticket their minimum.

'Whereas our our top ticket is is 14 pounds, for goodness sakes.'

He accused the council of targeting them because they have their own venue that they want to succeed.

'Our sales have gone up since all of this hoo-ha,' he said.

'Fareham Borough Council clearly don't want competition, they want to negate it.

'There are 20 theatres in Shaftesbury Avenue in London - why can't we have two in Fareham?'

Mr Fraser, who is himself starring in the pantomime, added: 'There might be a few jokes about 'can you put that statue there? Have you got planning permission?

'That kind of thing, to keep the story alive.'

'We are here, we are not going away,' he said.

'Even if they win and close the Arden down, we still have our two other theatres at the front.

'We are not going anywhere and will still continue.

'But we are being pestered and hounded - and at Christmas, hence why I call them the Grinches and Scrooges.'

Aaron Hayes, 29, who is technical director but starring as Mr Maddens in Nativity, which is set to show in early January said there was 'no reason' for them to stop their shows.

'Even with this Planning Enforcement Notice, until February 29 we are golden anyway,' he said.

'As a performer I think it's important to continue these kinds of programmes in the local community because what is going on in the amateur scene elsewhere is pretty closed off.

'We offer a lot back to the community and is the driving forced behind everything we do.'