In the end, the controlling Conservative group led by Leader Cllr Alan McDermott could only muster 12 votes in favour of the project against the 27 councillors who voted to abandon it.
Earlier, the Council had heard from Deputy Leader of Kent County Council, Peter Oakford, who told the chamber County Hall backed the project.
Despite this, opposition councillors were joined by a number of the controlling Tory group in voting down Calverley Square, which has already cost the borough council close to £11million.
A number of the 43 councillors who attended last Wednesday’s [October 8] Full Council meeting also chose to abstain.
The motion to abandon the development was split into two motions last night, with councillors also voting overwhelmingly against the ‘the principle that it wishes to provide a theatre that meets the needs of residents, visitors and producers’.
Councillors will now have to decide how to replace the ailing Town Hall and whether to upgrade the existing Assembly Hall Theatre.
