Issue - meetings

Watts Gallery Artists’ Village in Compton, owned by the Watts Gallery Trust, is a unique arts and crafts centre in the Surrey Hills, which provides opportunities for visitors to see the work of leading Victorian artists G.F. and Mary Watts and other linked exhibitions, and engage in a wide range of activities which capture the Watts’ commitment to “Art for All”. The Watts Gallery Trust has purchased the Watts’ original home and studio, Limnerslease, as part of the Village, with the home being partly funded through time-limited loans.

The report identifies support proposed to be provided by the Council to the Trust, by funding £1m (secured by a legal charge on the property) to ensure that Limnerslease remains in the ownership of the Trust and is further developed to enable the Trust to enhance its profile as a leading heritage, arts and educational centre in Surrey and increasingly nationally.

It was recommended that the Leader agrees:

1.    That the Council will provide £1m funding to the Watts Gallery Trust to invest in Limnerslease and to enable the Trust to retain its ownership of the property, such sum to be secured by a charge on the property.

2.    That the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Leader and the Chief Executive, will finalise the terms of an agreement with the Watts Gallery Trust to enable the provision of the funding and to secure this funding with a registered charge.