THE man leading the £200m regeneration of Northwich says the imminent closure of the town's only cinema has come as a complete surprise.
Northwich Vision project manager Andy Wallace, who is in charge of Vale Royal Borough Council's multi-million pound redevelopment of the town centre, is as 'shocked as everybody else' over the announcement that the Regal Cinema is to shut down at the end of the year.
It means that, while the Northwich Vision includes plans for a replacement multi-screen cinema at Baron's Quay, movie-goers will have some time to wait before they can once again see the latest blockbusters in town.
'We are reeling from the news,' he said. 'We didn't know about it and obviously it's a disappointment as we hadn't envisaged it closing so soon.
'But it's a business in its own right and presumably market forces put it in a position where it was no longer economically viable to maintain.
'The Northwich Vision always anticipated bringing a cinema operator, probably a multiplex, into the scheme. But we've not got planning permission at Baron's Quay yet and construction is not expected to begin until late 2008.'
The Regal is on land earmarked for re-development by British Waterways, which wants to develop the town's waterfront in line with the Northwich Vision.
BW's Mike Coates said the decision by owners Cheshire County Cinemas to shut is not connected with its plans. He added: 'BW will seek expressions of interest in the run-up to Christmas from developers who want to work with us, with a preferred developer being selected during 2007.'
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