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| PERMANENT FEATURE? |
Friends of Holland Park and the Kensington Society will be pleased to know £650,000 of the £5 million taxpayer's gift to Michael "The Fox" Volpe may pay for a nice, shiny new permanent 'structure'.
Let's just hope that 'man of culture', Danny Boys Moylan, is not put in charge of deciding the design:if he is, it will be a real blot on the landscape.
In the formal proposal for discussion in February there is no talk of rent for the land, or buildings currently used for free (ticket and admin office next to the main facilities).
And the thorny questions of salaries, pensions and rent and rates for the site are discreetly left 'off agenda'.
The contrast between this and the thread above is literally nauseating. In the Rotten Borough disable children get a third rate transport system, while a third rate opera company is flooded with our money! Appalling.
ReplyDeleteCrocodile tears! Volpe has his mind set on the award winning opera building at Garsington, set in the grounds of a stately home owned by the Getty family. His idea is to reproduce this in Holland Park. He has even put feelers out to Cllr Moylan (no love lost between the two) about how to make this happen.
DeleteSharpen your pencil, Amanda Frame
Sounds as though the Cabinet has finally decided to get shot of the Opera but do not have the courage to do so. A huge "bribe" of tax payers money (£5 million) will be used to buy some time and it seems that hidden subsidies (ie no rent and rates for the site and buildings) will continue. This will provide grounds for other opera companies in London to go to Court under competition law and claim unfair practice. More tax payers money will be blown away on lawyers.
ReplyDeleteWho will pay the Volpe and staff salaries in the 10 months of the year when the Opera is not playing? WiIll they continue to be employees of the K&C library?
DeleteThe idea of spending £650k on a new permanent structure will cause outrage in the Kensington Society and Friends of Holland Park. The idea was already thrown out by the Planning Committee after stiff opposition from all quarters. Why on earth is this on the cards again?
ReplyDeleteCllr Coleridge is in charge of this one. Expect a cock up
DeleteThere is huge peer group pressure on the Leader to throw money at Holland Park Opera. Day after day there are calls from the well healed along the lines of "Nick, lets be sensible about this. All of us are used to the opera and have a jolly good evening. Lets not spoil the fun".
ReplyDeleteThis type of pressure is insidious.. The old lady with no help and living with cold and hunger does not of course have this kind of access to the Leader. In fact she has nothing in common and no access at all. Out of site and out of mind.
The K&C Establishment want their little indulgence in the Park and it is a 99% certainty that they will keep it. "You scratch my back and I will...........
ReplyDeletePass the sick bag, Dame.
Not if the Dame keeps after the scandal. Would Pooter have stepped down if the Hornet had not pursued his disgraceful position and behaviour? The Holland Park Opera is a criminal waste of public funds and the Dame will continue to say so.
ReplyDeleteIt took 200 years to abolish slavery after it was outlawed. There are many years of life remaining for Opera Holland Park. Volpe will see his time out and in old age will appoint his successor
ReplyDeleteThe picture that I have in my mind is of Foxy Volpe with a large money bag stuffed with £5 million of tax payers money. And alongside it, the other picture of empty bookshelves in the new secondary school in North Kensington.
ReplyDeleteThe Tory ruling group in Hornton Street should be ashamed.
Ironically a name sake of Councillor Coleridge wrote a poem many years ago, Samuel Taylor, called the Albatross, The Opera Holland Park is in my view an achilles heal of RBK&C and is that albatross. I just wish that someone strong enough would stand up and say enough is enough and deal with the problem incisively and terminate this extravaganza as resident's are getting fed up of tax payers money being wasted in this way.
ReplyDelete