Competition is fierce

YET again the vocal efforts of one or two councillors on the planning committee have managed to overturn a recommendation by RDC's own planning department to permit the regeneration and re-development of one of the town's biggest eyesores, namely the Curzon Cinema in Western Road. I'm not saying that retail outlets with residential accommodation above is necessarily the ideal solution but, as was so clearly indicated in the report, the Save our Cinema protagonists have neither a plan nor the finance to bring about the re-generation that is so desperately needed with this building. The proponents of the Save our Cinema campaign seem to be without the two basic requirements for making any business venture a success '“ finance and a plan.

They have campaigned tirelessly to re-instate a business that has failed twice in the last 10 years: once as solely a cinema and once as a cinema and club/events venue with the added value of a pre-event restaurant. Both of these ventures were initiated by seasoned businessmen, both faced the same issue – Bexhill’s lack of desire for cinema entertainment in the town. Both failed.

This is compounded by a parking problem in Western Road – Cllr Joy Hughes lives in Western Road and knows this well. So what’s her solution to the following problems?

How can parents take and collect their children to Saturday or holiday cinema easily? This is a well-known life-saving entertainment for the entrepreneur. Further, the buses do not run after 8.30pm – so how do patrons return home after a major evening feature – unless by using a car? Same parking problem!

Oh, and by the way – Sovereign Harbour has a six-screen multiplex cinema in The Crumbles with free parking and Hastings has three cinemas! Competition is fierce.

Cllr Deidre Williams has got it just right – preserve the frontage, re-invent the rear. This has been done countless times with great success in towns and cities larger than Bexhill. Even RDC’s town planning officer has grave doubts about the viability of the building.

What is the vision of Cllrs Hughes and Prochak for this cinema? A cursory glance at the weekly film listings at any local multiplex cinema demonstrates the narrow genre of films that cinemas have to promote to keep afloat. Is that really what these councillors want for Bexhill? Or do they see fringe cinema as turning the building’s fortune around? Have they spoken to the owners of the independent cinema on London Road, what’s their view?

So once again, these short-sighted preservationists have condemned a beautiful building on a prime site in the centre of Bexhill to continue in dereliction and decay for years and years. No vision, No money, No plan, No hope!

HILARY RHODES

South Cliff, Bexhill