Braintree district's new cultural trust faced accusations that it was a facade for cost cutting from angry councillors.
The creation of the cultural trust was planned by Braintree Council's former Labour administration, but under the present Conservative and Halstead Residents' coalition, culture and the arts are among the areas facing spending cutbacks to minimise future council tax increases.
Jean Grice, head of cultural services at Braintree Council, attended a meeting of Witham Town Council last night to discuss what the changes entail for Witham.
The two councils currently joint-fund enterprises such as the annual puppet festival and Witham heritage and tourist information centre, but the district council has only guaranteed funding for both institutions for one more year, and has announced an end to its annual grant for Braintree District Arts Council.
Mrs Grice said that across the country cultural services had to accept the new "bidding culture" and apply for funding from outside bodies, which the trusts' experts had a 99 per cent success record in obtaining.
Published Wednesday April 14, 2004
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