Falmouth's Princess Pavilion has finally been handed over to the town council after months of legal wrangling.

The final transfer took place at Cornwall Council on Friday, although it has not yet officially been announced yet. This means that the pavilion and Gyllyndune Gardens have now been handed over to the town council to run as an asset for the town.

In her report to Falmouth Town Council's finance and general purposes committee last night, Falmouth Art Gallery director Henrietta Boex announced the transfer saying it was 'exciting' news.

"I have the very best update which is the Pavilion transfer took place last Friday morning," she said. "It is really good news, I'm already up and running with the first working party meeting tomorrow [today]."

She said that they wanted to get things up and running as soon as possible but they would keep it simple for the start with teas and cakes to try and keep it running.

"The council can now start negotiating with people," she said. "I think we'd like to go down the community route as much as possible working in partnership with the community. It's something we know really well. We have got an eight year track record in it at the art gallery and library and think we would like to use the theatre as a money generator. At the moment the operating business plan is just working its way out."

READ NEXT:

Delighted at takeover of Princess Pavilion, but a lot of work to do says mayor

The announcement that Cornwall Council was pledging its support for a transfer of the pavilion and gardens from leisure operator GLL was first made in April last year.

Talks had been underway since 2019 about the transfer as part of Cornwall Council’s devolution programme to devolve Princess Pavilion and its gardens, which were run by the leisure provider GLL.

The takeover necessitated an increase in the town council's council tax rate by 21% this year to cover the costs of running the pavilion and gardens. It is hoped that once the pavilions were up and running they would pay for themselves and this budget was a one-off hit.

READ NEXT:

'One heck' of a council tax increase to pay for iconic entertainment venue

Last month Mrs Boex told councillors she had a list of 50 people wanting to book the venue for birthday parties, christenings, weddings and gigs and, as soon as she knew a date for the asset to be transferred, then it will be a case of press the button to go. 

The pavilion, including its events venue and cafe, has been closed since the beginning of lockdown in March.