AS part of this year's budgetary process Harlow Council is proposing to cut The Playhouse's grant by £100,000.

Given we have one of the highest council taxes and some of the poorest services in the country, I welcome the coalition council's attempt to control the budget and re-focus its resources on the services which we, as residents, expect Harlow Council to deliver.

Having said that, The Playhouse is a wonderful facility and is deserving of our continued financial support. However, such support should not be open-ended. It is a matter of some regret that The Playhouse, blighted in the past by poor management and muddled thinking, has not realised its potential of being a financially independent centre of artistic excellence.

In fairness, The Playhouse is making progress. It is a great pity, therefore, that councillor Mike Garnett should on the one hand be supporting a cut in Harlow Council grant whilst criticising The Playhouse for making good that shortfall by staging the kind of show that attracts both custom and income.

As a publicly elected figure Mr Garnett is entitled to express his distaste for The Playhouse's production of Puppetry Of The Penis, but he is very wrong in threatening to withdraw the council's £300,000 grant. Censorship is a dangerous road to travel: we all have likes and dislikes, and entertain reasons why we think the world is a less pleasant place, but imposing our values on others is not the right way for a freedom loving and self confident society.

If the show is a success and theatre manager Phil Dale is successful in securing a "second date", Mr Garnett can console himself with the thought that next year he might be able to shave another £100,000 from the council's annual grant, and so improve further the quality of basic services.

GUY L. MITCHINSON, Joyners Field, Harlow

January 29, 2003 09:00