Ideas To Save Windmill

Arun District Council, which owns the seafront cinema/theatre, has admitted that making more use of the Windmill during the day could be a key to cutting its losses of more than 110,000 a year.

And when members of the Windmill Action Group asked people in Littlehampton town centre for their ideas on extending the venue's opening hours, they were encouraged by the wide range of suggestions.

The most popular choice was holding exhibitions, backed by 11.4 per cent of those surveyed. Next came wedding fairs and similar events (10.8 per cent), community centre and party venue (both 10.7 per cent), conferences (10.5 per cent) and tea dances (10.3 per cent).

Other popular ideas were bingo (9.3 per cent), roller discos (6.9 per cent), dog training (6.7 per cent) and wrestling (4.1 per cent), and the list also included lectures, card clubs, dance groups, keep fit, dry ice rink and mother and toddler groups.

Dawn Sladen, a member of the action group, said: "We had tremendous support when we carried out the survey, with the public giving us a good variety of ideas for all ages."

Arun has advertised the Windmill, with a view to finding a new way of running the venue, possibly by selling the leasehold to another organisation, or by forming a partnership to manage the Windmill with the council.

Interested parties have until the middle of next month to submit their proposals, but Arun has stressed that a community theatre/cinema must be maintained.