The curtain fell on a five-month feud over the future of Croydon's Fairfield Halls this week as the venue's board agreed to shut down for two years, paving way for £750m plans for a cultural quarter.

Croydon Council submitted a planning application for a major transformation of the town centre after the theatre complex's management agreed to the closure to allow for a £30m revamp.

But campaigners who fear Fairfield will be fatally damaged by the closure pledged the continue their fight to force a u-turn and keep parts of the venue open during the redevelopment.

RELATED: Campaigners to fight on against Croydon Council despite Fairfield Halls board agreeing to two-year closure of venue

Long-awaited to overhaul the dated building and transform it into a venue to "outdo the South Bank" were into first unveiled in October, sparking a noisy debate about the impact of the closure would have on Croydon's cultural scene.

The council on Monday announced new details of major plans, linked to the Fairfield development, for a new Croydon College building, more than 2,000 homes, offices, restaurants and shops spread across land between George Street, Park Lane and Barclay Road.

Councillor Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes, regeneration and planning, said: “These are exciting times for the borough. Our ambitious plans outline our vision to transform Croydon into one of London’s leading cultural and educational destinations and at the same time allow us to create hundreds of new affordable homes.

“As well as creating a new cultural offer, the next few years will see unprecedented growth and regeneration across the whole of borough, transforming Croydon for the better for everyone who lives and works here.”

The proposals were unveiled three days after the council announced the Fairfield (Croydon) Ltd, which runs the venue, had agreed to the closure.

RELATED: Fairfield Halls to close for £30m redevelopment after venue's board 'reaches agreement' with council

But the deal failed to quell opposition.Council leader Tony Newman this week faced calls to hold a public meeting to address concerns about the closure, which opponents warned would be “a loss to the town”.

Andy Hylton, a Fairfield technician who has led the campaign to keep it open, labelled the decision “disgraceful”.

He said: “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.”

Simon Thomsett, Fairfield chief executive, last year said he believed the venue might never re-open if it closed for two years.

He told the Croydon Guardian in October: "You've got to find your audiences again and if you lose the cultural offer for too long, they go find something else to do, they get out of the habit of coming here.

RELATED: Croydon's Fairfield Halls 'might never win back audiences' after revamp closure, warns venue's boss

The Younger Generation Theatre Group, which has held its annual show at Fairfield for 27 years, said the closure had forced it to leave Croydon and relocated to Redhill's Harlequin Theatre.

Diane Rexstrew, the group's secretary, said: "It has really caused a big upset, if it had been staggered we might have been able to work some way round it but with it completely closing there is no option is there.

“It is really disheartening that after 27 years we are hit with this. We don’t want to let the kids down so we have just got to go ahead to do the best we can.”

The council moved to mitigate potential damage to the town's arts and culture in the borough by hiring a creative director six-month creative director role.

Paula Murray, assistant chief executive of Brighton and Hove City Council, stepped into a six-month secondment role this week and will be tasked with improving existing cultural offerings, such as the Ambition Festival, and attracting new events to the borough.

Coun Newman said: “We want Croydon to be a truly vibrant place where we get some of the best artists and performers.

“I also want it to be a place where creative people, whether it is street artists or singers, want to base themselves.”

Councillor Tim Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, ruled out holding a public meeting on Fairfield's closure 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.”