Our plans with the theatre extension don’t change either the size or the capacity of the auditorium, so there’ll be no increase in the total number of people accessing the theatre at any one time. The extension does give us greater flexibility to rehearse more than one production at a time, increasing the potential number of productions per year, as well as improving its suitability for social and community events. However, none of these activities represent new or changed usage, and all rely on the availability of our volunteer cast, crew, front-of-house and management teams.

In 1972, CoPs purchased the whole plot of land now know as Christchurch Place. Formerly the site of Christ Church, the land included the building previously used as a school. The funds needed to convert the building from a Victorian schoolroom to a community theatre were raised through the sale of the adjacent land, on which five houses were subsequently built. The theatre was well established and conversion permission granted before the houses in Christchurch Place were built.

Access to the theatre building is now, and has been since the houses were built, via two routes:

• Steps from Balfour Street
• A pedestrian path from Port Vale

The path runs along the front of the houses and, while each property owns the section of path running through their respective gardens, each of the households, and the theatre and its users share a right of access along the whole path. This agreement was drawn up when the land was sold.

Neither of the two access routes have ever been officially designated as the primary entrance to the theatre site, though planning correspondence from the Council in the mid-90s referred to the path through Christchurch Place as the main approach to the theatre. Users of the building continue to be free to use whichever entrance best suits their route and needs, and signs in the theatre clearly direct users to consider our local residents when leaving the building.

When postcodes were first introduced, the Little Theatre was allocated two different postcodes and both have been in use ever since. Licensing and other official Council correspondence has been addressed to the Christchurch Place address for more than a decade. The Christchurch Place postcode (SG14 3BB) displays the Theatre’s location most accurately on the majority of mapping tools, so this is more commonly used in publicity. It is also the postcode preferred by Royal Mail due to their delivery routes.

No! Since 2021 CoPs has had charity status, with its stated objects being “to educate the public in the dramatic and operatic arts and the further development of public appreciation and taste in the said arts”, and all its activities must be related to furthering these aims. CoPs continues to be a not-for-profit organisation, with all income reinvested into the future of the Company and its assets, and is regulated by the Charity Commission. So it’s not possible for CoPs or its Little Theatre to become a commercial building or enterprise, as they both exist solely for public benefit. For more information, take a look at CoPs’ Constitution.

Early work on the planning application was done during the COVID-19 lockdown period, when opportunities to consult and engage with the community were limited. The requirements of the Council’s formal planning application process were fully complied with in good faith and with the expectation that residents would be given the opportunity to comment. It later became apparent that the community consultation involved in the planning process was not as extensive as the Company had anticipated and CoPs has therefore publicly apologised to the residents of Christchurch Place and surrounding properties that opportunities to inform and consult with them were not more actively provided. The Company has since taken steps to improve communication and consultation with the local community and will continue to do so.

We welcome feedback from local residents, members, audiences and other stakeholders at any time and will always take this into consideration in our current and future plans. If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please email us at info@cops.org.uk or speak to any of our committee members.

Unfortunately, we are not available for hire at this time.