A POPULAR amateur theatre group in Salisbury is hoping to get the go-ahead on a £500,000 extension after submitting a scaled-down version of plans.

Studio Theatre in Ashley Road wants to build new rehearsal and dressing rooms at the back of the theatre for its own use and the groups which hire it.

Theatre chairman George Goulding said: “The most vital reason for needing the extension is to have extra dressing rooms - the legal requirement is that boys and girls and adults must have separate changing areas when getting into costumes.

“Currently, our youth theatre, which is going from strength to strength, is having to get ready in the wardrobe department and the green room which is not the best place.

“It would also be great to have another rehearsal space - we do six productions a year and there is usually one in preparation while another is coming on stage. One ends up having to rehearse in the foyer which means it’s not in the tidiest of conditions when we welcome someone interested in hiring it, and there’s also the issue with sound between the auditorium and the foyer.

“Finally, it would give us more storage space which would mean we could actually work in our workshop rather than having to use it as a scene-dock.”

The application submitted to Wiltshire Council is for a ten-metre wide, two storey-extension. A larger extension, put forward in the theatre’s plans last year, was reduced following concerns by conservation campaigners.

Plans also include planting shrubs and flowers alongside the existing benches.

Theatre secretary Hugh Abel said: “We are keen to work with conservation groups which want to maintain the riverbank as a green corridor running into the city and prevent any erosion of green space. As soon as we get the approval, the fundraising will start in earnest.”

A decision is likely to be taken by the end of July.