Council meet on Willowfield School & EMD Cinema

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On the 20th of May the council approved the Willowfield School proposals, as well as reporting back on their progress in pushing through proposals to convert the EMD Cinema into a church (Minutes and details of meeting available here).
Amusingly the council reports that the Church have informed them that the building can not be economically run as a cinema. BAG is now concerned Christmas may be cancelled if any turkeys inform the council cooking birds is not economically viable.

Scroll down to read about the leading cinema operator who has gone on record to say the EMD could easily be viable as a cinema (obviously the UCKG Pastor knows better than someone running 18 cinemas). The council itself also commissioned a report that stated a 5 screen EMD was both viable and feasible.

WILLOWFIELD SCHOOL

Council met to approve the planning brief (see PDF) for the proposed new Willowfield School at the top of the Douglas Eyre Sports fields.

Planning brief (PDF) / Summary of responses (PDF)

BAG have contacted all councillors to register stakeholders objections to the plan explicitly putting the case for higher than 3 story buildings and residential developments. We also reiterated residents objections to the proposed entrance on Hawarden Road and the planned one way rat run.

Here’s the summary of the meeting:

“Councillor Chris Robbins, Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People, informed Cabinet that there were currently no proposals to combine housing and educational provision on the site, but he pointed out that it was existing Council policy that the area was suitable and available for residential development.
He also stated that he did not envisage the proposed educational buildings on the site being more than three storeys in height, but said that this could not be ruled out until the detailed planning application for the scheme had been submitted.

Cabinet AGREED the draft planning brief for the Willowfield School, attached at Appendix A to the report.”

The EMD Cinema

Click the image to read a 2004 letter from Cllr. Loakes where he states “The council is committed to seeing the EMD Cinema coming back into use as a cinema providing it can be developed as a viable entity. It will use its CPO powers to purchase the building should this become necessary“.

Here’s what the council had to say on May 20th:

“The Council continues to have pre application discussion the UCKG. The UCKG have advised that a formal planning application is likely to be submitted within a month. It is intended that the local community will have access to parts of the building and it is certainly the applicant’s intention to retain and renovate this important listed building, which is now on the English Heritage “Buildings at Risk Register”.

It is clear that it is not in the best interests of the Town Centre for the building to remain disused and fall into further decay which is one of the reasons why the current proposals, which differ from those submitted in 2003, must be given careful consideration when the application is submitted.

The Council is statutorily obliged to respond to any application submitted for the building but cannot impose the inclusion of a cinema in the development proposals as the Council has no legal interest in the site. The applicant has stated that it is uneconomic to restore the building as a cinema venue but that there would be the opportunity to show film in one of the converted spaces, but this would be ancillary to other uses. However, as stated above plans for the adjoining Arcade site are progressing and presently intend the inclusion of a cinema, which will be accessible for all sections of the community”.

It should be noted that the building is on the “Buildings At Risk Register” because of an illegal rave that caused considerable damage. This took place after UCKG bought the cinema building, any “decay” has also taken place on the UCKG’s watch.

Given Cllr Loakes statement that “The council is committed to seeing the EMD Cinema coming back into use as a cinema providing it can be developed as a viable entity” Cllr James O’Rourke recently met with the cinema operators City Screen.

The Save Our Cinema campaign also reported on a host of intersted cinema operators who contradict the lies put forward by the UCKG in collusion with the council.

Text taken from Cllr James O’Rourke’s site:

High St councillor Cllr James O’Rourke met with representatives of City Screen at the Town Hall after the company expressed an ongoing interest in the building on Hoe Street. City Screen, which was formed in 1989 to “challenge the multiplex cinema model and provide cinemas in city centre locations”, have been responsible for a series of cinema regenerations and new build facilities across the country, including the Clapham Picturehouse and The Ritzy in Brixton.

At the meeting Lyn Goleby, the Managing Director of City Screen, suggested that with the right funding package the site was still viable as a cinema, highlighting earlier reports paid for by the Council that made the business case for a 5-screen cinema on the EMD site.

Lyn Goleby said:

“Our previous work has shown clearly that the redevelopment of historic cinema buildings, such as the former EMD in Walthamstow, can act as an organic catalyst for wider regeneration.

“These projects attract other businesses to the area and really stimulate the night time economy.”

Read more on Cllr O’Rourke’s blog.