Letter to the editor: Response to letter to the Crawley Observer on funding cuts for the Hawth

Firstly, I very much welcome Mr Buckley’s comments regarding the £2.5million investment in K2 Crawley. As a council and from the feedback I receive from residents, we are all rightly very proud of the enormous success of K2 Crawley. As it reaches its 20th anniversary towards the end of this year, I am confident that this latest phase of investment will ensure K2 Crawley continues to stand out as one of the best leisure facilities in the region if not the country.

With regard to Mr Buckley’s comments regarding the Hawth. Mr Buckley is correct in that the cost to the council of running the Hawth has been reducing for a number of years and the contract extension negotiated towards the end of 2024 will see a further reduction in revenue cost of around £500k per year. This is a significant sum which will enable the council to maintain and invest in other priority services for the town despite the significant financial pressures facing local authorities. I should state however, the savings to the council been achieved by the hard work of the council teams working alongside our contractor Parkwood theatres. Expertise in growing the commercial programme alongside a range of community activities, maximising secondary spend income and ongoing attention to efficiency opportunities have all helped to ensure the Hawth will continue to offer a varied and exciting cultural programme whilst also securing a positive commercial arrangement for the Council and for the town.

Councillor Chris Mullins

Portfolio Holder Leisure and Wellbeing.

Crawley Borough Council