FUNDING for the Colchester art gallery Firstsite has been cut.

Colchester Council is contributing £127,925 to the gallery this year – a drop of nearly £15,000 on last year.

A report into the funding stated: “This is a necessary reduction due to the increasing pressures on overall budget resources for the council.”

In 2014/15 the gallery off, in Lewis Gardens, was given specific targets.

These included:

  • raising £11.22 for every £1 of local authority grant
  • raising visitor numbers to 135,000
  • raising school and educational visits to 6,000.

The gallery was given £814,500 from Arts Council England and £100,000 from Essex County Council in 2014/15.

The Arts Council is funding £814,000 as a one off this year, but has put the gallery in a special funding arrangement with no guarantee of support for 2016/17 yet.

It has given a list of targets the gallery must achieve in order to receive funding next year.

Essex County Council’s grant has remained the same.

Colchester Council has also reduced grants to other Colchester art facilities as it struggles for cash.

The Mercury Theatre received £239,100 in 2014/15.

This year it is getting £221,800.

Funding for Colchester Arts Centre has been reduced from £67,000 to £63,600.

A spokesman for Colchester Council said: “It was agreed, in consultation with the three organisations that we would make small reductions to the grants mentioned.”

Tim Young, councillor responsible for culture, said: “We review all of our budgets every year in the light of reducing funding.

“It was agreed these organisations could continue to deliver with these modest reductions in grants.”