Forum Topic

Ealing cinema

Has anyone heard any more info as to whether we are getting a cineam. Last I heard was that a decision would be made by end of July

Eleanor Davies ● 3833d10 Comments

Good news - it has looked pretty ropey for most of my 11 year old's life. Let's hope it gets built soon now. In the meantime there is always the Vue at Park Royal where I caught Suffragette today, warmly recommended

Rupa Huq ● 3761d

It's about effing time. Madness that Ealing, home of the great studios, can't even manage a cinema.

Susan Kelly ● 3764d

Well finally! Assuming Empire don't appeal, which will drag it on many months more of course, something will finally happen!Perhaps not the ideal outcome as I know many people have great reservations about the Land Securities proposal, including myself, but at least it's something, and their plans can presumably still be modified to some extent if enough pressure is applied.

Dave Hawley ● 3765d

Those who are following this saga may be interested to know that Ealing Council was notified today that the CPO for the cinema site has been confirmed by the secretary of state. This was announced at the start of the council meeting this evening. Don't expect work to start tomorrow though; it will still take a few months for ownership to be transferred to Land Securities and for them to engage contractors to start the work.

Paul Conlan ● 3765d

I came across this report of a recent court judgement in Ireland in which the owner of Empire Cinemas was described by the judge as, amongst other things, "unscrupulous" and "evasive". It throws some light on why they have been so difficult to deal with since they demolished the cinema in 2008 and IMHO why they cannot be trusted to ever develop a cinema on the site. Meanwhile we still await Greg Clark's decision on the CPO. Link to the report here: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/companies/judge-gives-cinema-mogul-tom-anderson-bad-review-in-pod-judgment-1.2271352

Paul Conlan ● 3769d

One of my disappointments with the Ealing Filmworks scheme was that the present preserved cinema frontage would not in fact be the front of the new cinema, but the front of yet another a block of flats! That and the ludicrous number of restaurants they were proposing in the new development, when surely Ealing has too many restaurants for them all to survive already!If Empire really do finally build their more traditional high street cinema, even if it does have a few flats as part of it, that might indeed be a more satisfactory outcome.

Dave Hawley ● 3826d

I agree with the previous poster – the outcome of the CPO is extremely uncertain. Having read all of the written submissions there appears to be a question about how well  the council has handled this long running issue. The case made by Empire (and which seems to be borne out in the proven facts) are that the council repeatedly refused to allow them to redevelop the site into a mixed use homes / cinema scheme in which the cinema would occupy the majority of the space and would give Ealing a genuinely differentiated cinema offering that contrasts to the standard multiplex offerings elsewhere.The council have subsequently entered into a partnership with a preferred developer that is proposing a significant increase in the homes element and a commensurate decrease in the number of cinema screens / space to give Ealing exactly the standard Multiplex offering that it said it would not permit in the first place. Throw in the fact the council also appear to have been trying to buy property and then forcing the developer to acquire it at a profit as a condition of planning permission and the whole thing starts to look like a mess. If the CPO doesn’t go through the council and we as the tax payers are potentially on the hook for significant compensation to Empire cinemas. And due to the way all of this has been handled we haven’t had a cinema for 7 years now and won't get one until 2019/2020 at the earliest.

Ian Ellis ● 3830d

My understanding is that the CPO Inspector has now submitted his report/recommendation to the Secretary of State. The report is confidential and we probably won't find out what the verdict is until late Summer/early Autumn.Having listened to much of the CPO public enquiry, I am not convinced the CPO will be successful (50/50 perhaps?) so it will be very interesting to find out the verdict (this continuing debacle could be made into a movie although, of course, there's nowhere to screen it ;).Whatever the verdict, there will probably be a cinema (maybe two or even three!) opening in 2018 or 2019 but unlikely much before then. Personally I feel that, on balance, giving Empire a (very final) chance to build a cinema would be the better outcome.

Alan Outten ● 3830d

Personally, the only thing that I can see working here is if Ealing Council's medai groupies (and Events Mangement vamps) give up on the cinema quarter rubbish, the council goes ahead, purchases the site and develops it as a council-owned venture with a cinema, swimming pool, no parking, no flats, and lots of small retail units as well as a giant retail unit (like Aldi or LIDL) and then sell the whole lot off (except the smiwwming pool) later on. Forget the media-b**s, do somink!

Anna Leuven-Rice ● 3833d

We're still waiting for the result of the CPO (compulsory purchase order) to acquire the cinema site. The public enquiry finished in May but the planning inspector still has to publish his recommendation. It looks like this will not happen until September. If the CPO is confirmed then the way will be clear for Land Securities to acquire the site and proceed with their plans to redevelop it which include a Picturehouse cinema. If the CPO is not confirmed then Empire (the existing owners) have promised they will build the mega-cinema (20 screens) that they originally promised back in 2008. Personally, I am somewhat sceptical of these claims and am much more confident that a cinema will eventually be built if the CPO is confirmed but we will have to wait and see.

Paul Conlan ● 3833d