Campaigners have pledged to continue to fight Croydon Council plans to shut Fairfield Halls for two years despite the venue’s board agreeing to the closure last week.

Council Tony Newman today faced calls to hold a public meeting to address concerns about the proposal, which opponents warned would be “a loss to the town”.

The council confirmed on Friday the venue would shut for two years on July 15 to allow for a £30m transformation, despite a vocal campaign from the halls management, staff and Conservative opposition councillors, who wanted parts of the theatre complex to remain open during the work.

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Andy Hylton, who started an online petition calling to keep the venue open and gained more than 6,800 signatures, labelled the decision “disgraceful” and a “real shame for the town”.

He called on the Labour administration to hold an “open and transparent” public meeting to discuss the plans.

Mr Hylton, who works as a technician at Fairfield, added: “It is a loss to the town in terms of its connection with arts and culture, which I think Croydon needs.

“We want the place to have money put into it, it does need a lot of work in the public areas particularly, but there is a lot of unnecessary work [in the plans] like the side entrance and the rear loading bay seems unnecessary in my eyes.

“All I am asking in the campaign is to have an open debate or meeting so they [the council] can explain their plans to the public and the public can ask questions.

“It is about asking them to explain their decision so we can have a positive idea of what is happening, we all want this to be good but we want to know if we are going to lose it for two years is it worth us losing it for two years?”

Earlier this month protesters staged a ‘flashsong’ musical protest against the planned closure of the hall and Mr Hylton, who helped to organise the protest, has not ruled out further rallies against the closure.

But Councillor Tim Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, ruled out holding a public meeting and insisted the “public have been engaged in the whole process”.

He added: “Holding a public meeting to discuss something which was a decision that took place months ago is out of time really, it doesn’t make sense.

“I don’t have any problem at all with people being concerned about the closure of Fairfield, it impacts people considerably, but the alternative is to gradually improve Fairfield over many years so to fix it over a relatively short period of two years is quite an achievement.”

In October, Fairfield Halls chief executive Simon Thomsett voiced fears that the theatre complex might never regain the audiences it will lose during the revamp.

But Coun Godfrey today dismissed concerns the closure is a “loss to the town’s connection with art and culture”.

He said: “I am very confident that once they [performers] see how fantastic the new, refurbished Fairfield Halls is they will be absolutely keen to come back to the halls because it will be such a modern, beautiful venue.”

The council submitted an outline planning application for the redevelopment last week.

The proposal includes shops, bars and restaurants, residential housing, a hotel, residential housing and a multi-storey car park.