“Online keyboard warriors” have been blamed for negative reviews of Croydon’s Fairfield Halls in a heated debate about the recently-renovated venue.

At a council meeting last night (Monday, December 15) Councillor Tim Pollard said that he had spent the weekend looking at Trip Advisor reviews of the venue.

It re-opened in September after being closed for three years for a £42 million refurbishment. It was originally expected to cost £30 million.

At Monday’s meeting. Councillor Tim Pollard said had spent the weekend checking out the reviews of Fairfield Halls on TripAdvisor.

He said: “In the run up to its closure we found that something like 17 per cent of people had a negative experience.

“Since the reopening that has gone up to 67 per cent of people saying that they’ve had a negative or very negative experience there.

“Will you accept that the work that you’ve done has clearly not succeeded so far, will you take responsibility for that and make sure that those issues are driven away?”

But council leader Tony Newman said it was “hugely disappointing” for Cllr Pollard to publicly be “running down” Fairfield Halls and praised the staff and performers at the venue.

And the subject was raised again by Councillor Helen Pollard, who is married to Cllr Tim Pollard. 

She called on the council to apologise for problems at Fairfield Halls.

In response Councillor Oliver Lewis, cabinet member for culture leisure and sport, said: “Cllr Helen Pollard dredges up and recycles the comments of online keyboard warriors but actually the people of this borough spoke twice in 2014 and 2018.

“They said ‘we want a Fairfield Halls that lives up to our expectations’, that is what we’ve delivered.

“The opposition can keep trashing our town. What I advise them to do is support  the Fairfield Halls and our excellent operator in BH Live.

“I appreciate there have been some teething problems and there is a way to go.

“We will continue to support BH Live until we’re getting excellent across the board.”

But Cllr Helen Pollard said that the operator BH Live has responded to some negative comments on the reviewing website.

She added: “All you want to do is trash their comments and say they’re insignificant. When are you going to apologise to the people of Croydon?

“I am not running it down, I want the best for Croydon and I want it for Fairfield when are you going to deliver that?”

How does Fairfield Halls do on Trip Advisor?

On the website Fairfield Halls has received 134 reviews and has a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

Of the reviews, 50 per cent are excellent or very good, 17 per cent are average and 33 per cent are poor or terrible.

A one star review written on Monday (December 15) reads: “Appalling venue! Poor service, no food or snacks, disgraceful seating in the Ashcroft Theatre.

“Staff were poorly trained. Never felt so embarrassed! Apparently had a few million pound makeover! No sign of that.”

While a five star review written on December 2 reads: “Newly refurbished and looking good. Spent a whole afternoon and evening there, enjoying the ambience of the Arnhem Foyer with its comfy seating and friendly atmosphere.

“Had a decent lunch from the coffee shop which is evidently already popular with local office workers. ”

Some of the negative reviewers say they had problems finding parking near the venue.

Responding to a complaint the Fairfield Halls account tweeted: “The car park under Fairfield Halls is not managed by BH Live.

“This is currently closed, but will re-open in 2020. Until then, we have agreed discounts at two nearby car parks, with evening tickets from £3.50. All the info is on our website: http://fairfield.co.uk/getting-here.”