Arts Council England has approved Hall for Cornwall’s Stage II funding application, awarding £5 million towards its proposed project.

The award follows a central government pledge of £2 million announced during George Osborne’s recent 2016 budget speech.

For the last three years, the Truro Hall For Cornwall has been planning a significant and much-needed redevelopment of its theatre, seeking to safeguard the heritage of the building and transform the venue into a dynamic and high quality environment for world-class theatre.

Chief executive Julien Boast said: ’This is incredibly exciting news as we believe the people of Truro and Cornwall deserve access to the very best performing arts, to rival any city in the country. ’It is a significant milestone in taking the venue a step forward in realising our ambitions - to serve the whole of Cornwall with a rich programme of performing arts, whilst also contributing to the economic success of the county.’

Now the project must secure the necessary planning permission along with funds from a variety of public and private sources.

Until then, Hall for Cornwall remains open for business as usual.