Latest news with #Wantage
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Improvement plan and £285k investment for Wantage theatre
A £285,000 revamp of an Oxfordshire town's arts centre has been approved, along with an improvement plan for the money from Vale of White Horse District Council will be spent on refurbishing the Beacon Arts Centre, in part of the action plan, food and drink offerings will be reviewed and "more co-ordinated" marketing will be carried out to boost ticket the council said fees and charges had already been increased at the venue - and would be reviewed again in the middle of the year to "assess if any further commercial opportunities exist". The money will also pay for improving the venue's reception area, refurbishing toilets and creating a more attractive entrance. Originally a Civic Hall built in 1973, The Beacon now has a theatre, dance studio and three function improvements are the second phase of an action plan - and the council said it had already done things like start National Theatre Live screenings and re-introduce a Helen Pighill said the authority had to balance The Beacon's "dual role" as an entertainment venue, aiming to be more commercial, and the "valuable public service" it offered for things like training and said: "The first phase action plan for the Beacon, adopted in February 2024, laid the groundwork for improvements and this next phase addresses outstanding actions, while introducing a comprehensive set of new initiatives."The council said it was also developing a "Culture, Heritage and Creative Industries Strategy" for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Oxfordshire MP says councillors should retain planning powers
An Oxfordshire MP has called for local councillors to retain their control over planning, as the government proposes major Glover, the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot & Wantage, said councillors played a "key role" in the planning process and should keep their current government has said it wants to ensure "councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area".A working paper sets out three options for a "national scheme of delegation", which would see more applications dealt with by unelected planning officers. Giving a speech on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in parliament, Mr Glover said councillors in his constituency had secured positive amendments to said when the application for more than 4,000 homes at Valley Park in Didcot came to a planning committee, officers recommended it was councillors said there was not enough provision for healthcare and there was a lack of cycling and walking said: "Due to elected representatives making speeches during the meeting, outlining the issues, the planning decision was deferred for a couple of months and those things were able to be added in."Keeping that local link and making sure that local people are brought into the planning process, and it's done with rather than done to, continues to be very important."And councillors play a key role in that and that is why they should retain their current positions and influence on planning committees." The government wants to build 1.5 million homes by 2029 and is introducing legislation to change the planning said it wanted to "modernise" how councillor-run planning committees work, ensuring they focus on "key applications for larger developments".A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: "The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will improve local decision-making by ensuring councillors can focus on the biggest developments in their area, and democratic, local engagement with how homes are built will continue to be supported. "This will speed up decisions and ensure they are being taken at the right level so we can get Britain building again." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
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The Independent
13-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Government bans early work of Botticelli from being exported out of UK
The government has banned a Botticelli painting worth more than £10m from being exported outside the UK. The Virgin and Child Enthroned, painted by the Italian master Sandro Botticelli in the 15th century, is at risk of leaving the country after it was sold by Sotheby's London last December for £9.7m. The UK government has now placed a temporary export bar on the work, which has been valued at £10.2m. The order will prevent it from leaving the UK until 8 August and allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the painting for a British collection. The painting depicts an image of the Virgin Mary sitting on a throne with the child of Christ. It is believed to have been painted in the 1470s, early in Botticelli's career. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said if saved, the painting would represent a significant addition to the body of work by Botticelli, best known for his painting The Birth of Venus, in UK collections. It added: 'Very few early Botticellis remain in the UK and it would provide a richer and more detailed understanding of his work and the development of Florentine painting in the later fifteenth century.' Christopher Baker, a member of the reviewing committee on the export of works of art and objects of cultural interest, which advises the government, said: 'Dating from the early 1470s, this affecting devotional work demonstrates the sophistication of Botticelli's painting early in his career in Florence. 'Probably intended to inspire private prayer in a domestic setting, it is an image that has a wider resonance as it delicately explores the power of maternal love.' According to Sotheby's, the painting was housed in the Convent of San Giuliano in Florence in the early 19th century and was later taken to a small chapel attached to a group of farmhouses near the village of Vaggio. It was then inherited by the owners of the property, who then sold it to an art dealer in 1903. It was then purchased by Lady Wantage in 1904, and the painting remained in the same family collection until the present day. 'The cult of, or enthusiasm for Botticelli, of which it formed a part, had grown during the Victorian era and the painting arrived in Britain in 1904; it was acquired by Lady Wantage and entered the renowned Lloyd collection,' Mr Baker added. 'Further research on the placement of Botticelli's work in his career and the organisation of his workshop, as well as links with the wider context of Florentine Renaissance art would all be of enormous benefit. 'In view of these intriguing possibilities every effort should be made to try and secure this beguiling painting for a British collection.'
