Evict the Bloomsbury scroungers? Sussex town torn over 'elitist' legacy

Debate rages in Lewes over the future of a council building used for culture as public services are squeezed

- Vanessa Thorpe

When the doors closed on two art shows in the Sussex town of Lewes last weekend, a record number of people had crossed the threshold of Southover House to look at works by Picasso and Grayson Perry.

For 18 months, the former council office building has housed a pop-up outpost of Charleston, the former home of key members of the Bloomsbury group, which is nearby in the village of Firle.

But despite its popularity over halfterm, Lewes's new Charleston site is at risk. District councillors are to decide on Thursday whether to pull the plug or extend the lease on the site for another 25 years. A fresh lease would allow for a collaboration with three prestigious cultural institutions; the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate.

While many who live in Lewes and the surrounding area at the foot of the South Downs hope that Charleston wins the day, members of a vociferous local campaign group are dismayed to see a council property given over to what one told the Observer he regards as an old-fashioned "legacy", or establishment, arts organisation.

Other protesters have argued that the site should be given instead to the NHS, or to a youth organisation - or perhaps used to create much-needed housing.

A few angry fly posters have encouraged local people to rise up and "Evict the Charleston Scroungers", urging the council to give health professionals the keys to Southover House, which they claim has "inexplicably been given to a group of undeserving conceptual artists".