Sir.-Hannah Williams in The Gazette (September 14) gave a clear explanation as to why she supports Councillor Keith Chapman's decision to ask Christine Bradwell to manage the Haymarket Theatre.

Mrs Williams explained that "Basingstoke deserves better" than the plan proposed by the existing Haymarket management and that Cllr Chapman's decision is "an opportunity, not a threat".

She expressed the same views at the recent scrutiny committee meeting and her views were very persuasive.

I welcomed the opportunity to scrutinise Cllr Chapman's decision for it revealed that there had in fact been extensive consultation over a number of years and that the previous Labour/Liberal-Democrat administration had supported the idea of a joint trust led by The Anvil.

We saw documents that were presented to the former administration in February 2005, following extensive consultation, that recommended "The Anvil and Haymarket Theatre are requested to work with the borough on the feasibility and potential benefits of a joint management trust". This was because they had rightly concluded that the ongoing financial crisis faced by the Haymarket Theatre was due to it being too small to then function as a viable independent theatre.

For it to survive as a production-based theatre, it needed to be part of a larger and more successful organisation and The Anvil was the only obvious choice.

The former administration then gave experienced independent consultants in December 2005 the following objective: "to enable Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to receive an independent assessment of the viability of a joint trust to manage The Anvil and Haymarket Theatre in regards to maximising its future investment in, and ensuring the longer-term sustainability of the two organisations". Any independent observer would think that the former administration, having rightly concluded that a joint trust building upon The Anvil's management success was the way forward, had then decided to get an independent expert to verify that their decision was the correct way forward.

Their expert concluded in May 2006 that putting the Haymarket Theatre under the management of The Anvil would put "the Haymarket under the operation of a proven board and senior management team at The Anvil. Collectively they are of a different order of professional capability from their counterparts at the Haymarket. In the shape of The Anvil's present chief executive, there is also (rather unusually) extensive capability in drama, dance and music production and promotion, of a higher order than the Haymarket has itself been able to recruit in years".

I had an opportunity to hear from Christine Bradwell at the scrutiny committee and I took the view that this independent assessment of her ability was 100 per cent correct.

Furthermore, in May 2006, the Arts Council for the South East of England (which has withdrawn its funding of £262,000 from the Haymarket Theatre for next year based upon its lack of confidence in the Haymarket's future management and production) wrote to the borough council in support of an Anvil-led joint trust, saying that provided this was achieved, then "during 2007/8, we are aiming to ensure that we are supporting your aspirations to the same or higher levels than we would have, should we have retained our support to the Basingstoke Theatre Trust during 2007/8".

In other words, the arts in Basingstoke and Deane will get this money again and maybe more if The Anvil can be allowed to put the Haymarket on a stable financial footing and put on productions at The Anvil's level of expertise.

What seemed incredible was that rather than address the Arts Council's concerns, the Haymarket Theatre wanted to limp on without the grant and its benefit for arts and production in the borough.

Finally, it was also made clear at the scrutiny meeting that the present management of the Haymarket did not have the confidence of the borough's officers or the county council's officers and were likely to lose the county's financial support also.

So I concluded that when Cllr Chapman made his decision in July 2006, he had trod a well-worn path made by the previous administration, namely that a joint trust run by The Anvil was the only way forward to secure a successful and thriving Haymarket Theatre for the future.

It has been sad to see that the remnants of the former administration have sought to hide their decision-making from the public in order to engage in politicking. Labour councillors have fanned the fears of Haymarket employees and their supporters by suggesting that the theatre would close, while Lib-Dem councillors have stuck their heads in the sand and faked amnesia over their previous decisions.

All of this was only designed to cause difficulty for political reasons for Cllr Chapman and the new Conservative administration.

I daresay that Gazette readers will look cynically at their behaviour and will be more concerned about whether Cllr Chapman's decision is designed to secure a stable and successful future for the Haymarket Theatre.

I have every confidence that Cllr Chapman is committed to making the Haymarket financially stable by asking The Anvil to manage it.

I have every confidence that under Christine Bradwell the Haymarket will thrive and become regionally renowned.

In my opinion, this is something that should have happened long ago.

Cllr Mark Ruffell