Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) has a peppercorn lease arrangement with the Town Council since 2009 (and eight years remaining) during which time the Town Council and the Stag Community Arts Centre charity have run it as a not-for-profit for the benefit of the town. This is a local Asset of Community Value, and a good deal of its success is from the involvement of the community both financial and in volunteering.

There is no income to SDC (or future successive authority) from the arrangement, and no security benefit to the Theatre. As an arts centre delivering for communities across the district and beyond, we have exciting plans to expand and improve over the coming years. We are ambitious about being the cultural hub for a growing town and beyond, and to be able to do it and raise the funds we need the Freehold.

Last year, Sevenoaks District Council press-released a proposal for a 100-year lease without any details of the terms, and we believe it would inhibit investment and provide opportunity for uncontrollable rent increases. It was also concerning that it removed the current ‘loading bay’ access which is vital to enable theatre shows. Subsequently, SDC’s own Finance Committee unanimously recommended transferring the freehold with an overage clause. But based on community asset transfers from SDC to other town and parish councils recently at a charge, SDC may attempt to charge STC for the freehold at ‘existing use value’, a cost which would have to be passed onto town residents just to maintain the status quo.

We are calling on Sevenoaks District to release the freehold of the Stag to the Town Council and continue access to the loading bay at no cost using an overage clause to secure its long-term interest and ownership of the local community.

Nigel Wightman, Chair of Stag Community Arts Centre

 Over 7000 people have now signed the Stag petition demonstrating huge support for the Stag to remain under local control.

For more information, and to sign the petition please visit: www.change.org/stagfreehold

The Stag opened on Saturday August 22 1936 as the Majestic Cinema. The first feature starred Jack Buchanan & Fay Wray in the musical farce "When Knights Were Bold" a film which the Daily Express described as “a rare triumph of unimaginativeness”.

It was the era of cinema as mass entertainment and it was at the time one of three purpose built cinemas in Sevenoaks (The Majestic, the Granada and the Carlton). Such was the popularity of cinema there was also a fourth cinema in Sevenoaks – on Tubs Hill: The Palace.

The Town Council took possession of the Stag on January 2 2009 and its original intention was to open at Easter that year. Pressure from local drama groups helped the Council’s team to work wonders as The Stag had been closed, dark and cold for six months. It re-opened in mid-January with the Sevenoaks Entertainers’ pantomime of Cinderella & the Glass Slipper. This meant the Entertainers continued an unbroken run of pantomimes at the Stag which started in 1990 – a record they continue today. The cinemas re-opened for the February half-term using the flexibility the digital equipment provided and which means The Stag Cinema can show multiple films throughout the week. The first films at the new Stag Cinema were the Disney animation “Bolt” starring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, the children’s film “The Secret of Moonacre” and the surprise hit “Slumdog Millionaire”. New equipment was added to show 3D films in 2014 and new digital projectors and computers in 2016. The auditorium seats were completely renewed in 2013 and the cinema seats completely renewed in 2016. The Stag has been open for 364 days per year since the Town Council took over and it has been operating as a Not For Profit Charity since 2010.