Cinema in town wins backing
SCARBOROUGH Civic Society has backed an ambitious scheme to build a multi-screen cinema on the North Street car park site.
The owners of the Opera House Casino, Nik and Becky Shaw, first revealed their multi-million pound plans to redevelop the town centre site in July, just two weeks after Benchmark Leisure, the firm behind the Sands development, announced it was submitting plans for a multi-screen cinema on the Atlantis site in the North Bay.
Last month, the Shaws revealed more details of their 70m scheme to redevelop the North Street site, including proposals for a new 80-bedroom boutique hotel, which they hope will create 300 new jobs.
Adrian Perry, chairman of Scarborough Civic Society, says the group will support the "town centre option".
He said: "Government policy clearly states that the focus of facilities such as cinemas should be located in town centres. Clearly the Sands is in the town but equally it is not in the town centre as designated by the local plan. We will continue to support the town centre option.
The civic society, in its January newsletter, also accuses Benchmark of "continually changing the goalposts" in relation to the Sands development and reports Cllr Janet Jefferson, Scarborough's mayor, as saying: "We thought that we voted for something like Centre Parcs by the sea. We definitely did not want a Clifton Moor by the sea."
Mr Perry said the civic society had also been reassured by council officers that there would still be enough money left in the pot to build a covered waterpark, after the council agreed to release 3 million from the waterpark reserve fund for the development of a Tivoli Gardens concept for Northstead Manor Gardens.
In the newsletter, Mr Perry says the waterpark was originally the main justification for much of the Sands development.
He said: "I'm sure that we all hope that the Sands will be a great success and we will continue to follow all proposals for the site very closely and comment accordingly."
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Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
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