I WAS saddened to read the business plan summary that reveals, after a huge capital spend, The Subs will reopen and continue to make losses.

But then over the next few years it creeps toward a profit.

Creating a plan that cuts the current Subs Room cash loss in half after spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money upgrading is, to my mind, a very poor plan indeed.

Despite the use of outside consultants (#who’s Spending Britain’s Billions) who seemed to have produced a text book ‘hockey stick’ profit growth graph…it will be better in three to five years’ time - oh yeah.

I would also be fascinated to read how profitability will come, growing market share in a declining market?

Public ownership has seen huge amounts of money used to support the Sub Rooms over the past decade and yet we still have a building and its facilities that have become outdated and need upgrading.

Is this the time do that when the market itself is in decline and when local competition has never been stronger or better, Stroud is already a non-destination for people in local towns seeking entertainment.

Public ownership has failed, as has years of subsidies, these buildings must become sustainably functional through paid for use.

Spending that amount of public money to continue to subsidise evening entertainment in Stroud – which effectively is a middle class subsidy - whilst care to the elderly disintegrates is just plain wrong.

Sorry.

Nationally the whole of the pub, club, and venue sector is in sharp decline as younger audiences don’t spend so much on ‘going out’, the house ladder generation have huge mortgages and older ones spend less and drink less.

The Victorian buildings that we all love – and now struggle to find a role in 2017 Stroud - were built by successful merchants and traders.

So more power to Dale and other entrepreneurs in the area.

Let’s welcome the new.

The fabric of our town must be developed by embracing the changing nature of society and welcoming non-conformist thought, as Stroud has a fine history of.

PS: In my teenage years the Subs was closed (upstairs) and Stroud had a far closer community than it does now!

I survived but it might explain a few things….

Jeremy Collingwood

Stroud