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Groundhog Day: Will Brentwood cinema ever get off the ground?

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IT'S just turned 6am and residents have once again awoken to the sounds of Sonny and Cher singing I've Got You Babe.

No, it's not Groundhog Day, but for many film buffs it must be starting to feel like it.

You've guessed it – plans for a cinema in Brentwood have been put on ice for yet another two years.

The long-awaited development in William Hunter Way has been given another lifeline by under-fire councillors who extended its planning permission last week.

But it is still yet to be seen whether the beleaguered project will even make it to Christmas.

Builders for Stockland – the company proposing a six-screen cinema, ten-storey, 654-space car park, shops and 14 new homes on the William Hunter Way car park, should be on site by next spring.

But if contracts between potential leaseholders and the developers are not signed by December 7, the project will fail.

Roger Hirst, deputy leader of Brentwood Borough Council, said: "We know many of our residents want a cinema back in Brentwood, and I was pleased to hear from the developers that they are now in a position to deliver on this project.

"Of course, we need to see them formally to confirm this before the deadline in early December.

"If they fulfil their conditions precedent, then it would be good to go ahead. If they want to change the terms then that is when we have to reconsider. They have to come back to us with the whole thing – including the operator for the cinema and the retailers filling two thirds of the shopping area and the car park. It's time the developers got on with it."

The council says it is committed to delivering on promises and agreements made in February 2009, when planning permission was first granted with a clear majority of 20 to 8.

However, since then the plans have been beset with difficulties, including finding retail partners willing to commit to the project.

Despite fervent opposition, Brentwood's planning committee voted to extend the application by another two years last Wednesday (September 11).

It is unclear whether the developers could wait for as long as the planning permission allows before building starts.

Brentwood North councillor Phil Mynott is ward member for the area where the cinema will be built. He also lives in vicinity so he cannot vote on the matter.

The Liberal Democrat councillor, who has been against the project since its inception, said: "The more we hang on, the more out of date the development becomes. And the more we wait the more disadvantaged we become.

"We are still on the starting blocks while other boroughs and areas are away down the line working at their own futures.

"Brentwood, it seems, has put all its future eggs in one basket. But the problem is it is not even a very good basket.

"Let's go back to the beginning and ask the residents what they would like to see happen there.

"We've never been shown any options – this has been the only option available. There has been no triage process to get rid of the poor options.

"If they are drawn up now, they will be relevant for today. The outline for this was drawn up in 2005.

"It's out of date."


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Groundhog Day: Will Brentwood cinema ever get off the ground?


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