Sevenoaks Hits £100,000 Fundraising Target to Help Buy the Stag's Freehold

Sevenoaks Town Council confirmed on the fundraiser's deadline day, 1 October, that its £100,000 community pledge target has been comfortably beaten: more than 600 pledges were made over the past month, totalling more than £117,000. A pledge isn't the same as money in hand, though - the council says it will shortly contact everyone who pledged to invite them to actually make their donation, which is the point the headline total starts turning into cash towards the £650,000 purchase. The Mayor of Sevenoaks, Cllr Victoria Granville, said: "Many thanks to the hundreds of people who have pledged their support for Sevenoaks Town Council's plans to purchase the freehold of the Stag. Your support is a tremendous vote of confidence in the Stag and its important contribution to our local community. It is particularly fitting that this support comes during this civic year, when we are focusing on 'Celebrating Culture in Sevenoaks'." Source: Sevenoaks Town Council

Sevenoaks Town Council voted to proceed with buying the freehold of The Stag Theatre and Cinema for £650,000, confirming the recommendation this site reported on 1 September, and launched a public fundraiser to help cover the cost.

The £650,000 is being funded three ways: a £350,000 Public Works Loan, £200,000 from the Town Council's own capital reserves, and a target of £100,000 in community donations. To avoid raising the local council tax precept to cover the loan repayments, the Town Council says it will redirect the £27,000 annual grant it currently gives the Stag towards those repayments instead - meaning the venue effectively swaps its yearly grant for outright ownership of the building it sits in.

Anyone wanting to pledge a donation can fill in a pledge form, available online or at the Town Council office, with a deadline of 1 October 2026. The Town Council says every donation helps protect the Stag as a cultural asset and keep it running as a community venue.

Leader of Sevenoaks Town Council, Cllr Claire Shea, said: "The Town Council remains firmly of the view that the public should not be charged for the transfer of a public asset between local authorities, and we know that there is no requirement for there to be any charge. But, whilst Sevenoaks District Council insists that it will charge a commercial price, we must now act prudently and consider the long-term interests of the town. Securing the freehold should protect the Stag, support future investment and give this valued venue greater certainty for generations to come." The Stag's Chief Executive, Tony McEwen, said: "I am overjoyed at the Town Council's decision to proceed with the purchase of the freehold. We cannot view this victory in a vacuum, of course, as the path ahead will be difficult."

The Town Council's own account of how it got here is worth setting out, since it explains why a straight £650,000 cheque - rather than a free or discounted transfer - is where this has landed. Sevenoaks District Council set that figure as the building's independently assessed Existing Use Value and offered three options: sell the freehold at that price, grant a 30-year lease at a peppercorn rent, or let the Stag pass to whichever authority succeeds the District Council under 2028's local government reorganisation. The Town Council argued a public asset shouldn't carry a commercial price tag between two public bodies, took King's Counsel advice on a Judicial Review, and concluded - having weighed the likely cost and timescale of a legal challenge against the approaching 2028 deadline - that pursuing it further wasn't worth it. The lease option was considered seriously too, but rent reviews, break clauses and no automatic right of renewal were judged too uncertain a foundation for attracting the kind of long-term investment freehold ownership would allow.

The Town Council also points to a clear public mandate for taking this on: of 30 community assets covered in a 2025 public survey, transferring the Stag to the Town Council was rated the highest priority, with 395 respondents in favour against 29 opposed, and a separate petition on the same question gathered more than 7,700 signatures. Source: Sevenoaks Town Council