STROUD's historic entertainment venue is a step closer to being owned by Stroud Town Council as the deal to transfer ownership should be finalised by the end of this month.

The district council has served a 'notice of intended disposal' of the Subscription Rooms as part of the process to hand over the building, and a set of terms have been negotiated and approved.

A trust will be set up by the town council to run The Subs and the district council will pay them a one-off grant of £230,000 towards operating costs for 2019/20, up to £125,000 for roof repairs as well as £20,000 worth of fixtures and fittings.

It is expected that the town council will contribute £50,000 of working capital and cover insurance costs.

Contracts should be exchanged by the end of September, and the transfer completed by the end of March 2019.

The new ownership will mark the end of a battle to retain the building in public ownership after the council announced that they could no longer afford to run it.

A statement from district councillor Doina Cornell in February 2017 said that the building's future had been put in doubt due to central government cuts.

"Cuts in government funding are affecting councils across the country, not just us, so we really need to make sure that we provide services as efficiently as possible," she said.

"It is clear that the Subs is close to many people’s hearts, but when you’re talking about a building that costs over £400,000 a year to run, we really need to ensure that taxpayers’ money is being spent wisely and see if there is a better way to run things than at present."

Throughout the rest of the year a group of councillors were asked to consider what should happen to the venue and were poised to make a recommendation that Stroud District Council should accept an offer from Ecotricity owner Dale Vince to buy the building for £300,000.

However, there were urgent calls for the council to halt the review process after a member of the public submitted a report showing that the annual subsidy figure quoted by the district council was incorrect to a tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Although the council apologised for 'financial discrepancies' and promised to look at how the mistakes had been made not details of the investigation outcome have ever been released.

The errors, coupled with significant public pressure, forced the council to rethink its position on the building and consider ways in which it could remain in public ownership.

Yesterday's press statement confirms that the annual savings to the council following the sale will be closer to £230,000 per year from 2020/2021.

From next March the building's future will be in the hands of eight trustees who will steward Stroud’s Subscription Rooms and create a cultural hub for the town.