On Monday 8 October a message appeared on the Arts Development Pages of B&NES Council Website.
It read as follows:
“A phased closure of the B&NES Council Arts Development service will begin from 3rd December 2018 and the service will close completely on Friday 8th February 2019.
The Council is facing exceptional challenges and pressures to its budget, with a savings target of £16 million to be met by 2020.
The Arts Development service is one of several Council services that will either be significantly reduced, or cease completely in order to make the savings necessary to meet this target.
We are proud of what the service has achieved and of the benefit to residents created by the many organisations, festivals and projects that the Council has supported since the inception of the service in 1996.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone with whom we have worked closely and successfully over the years.”