When the deadline closed on Friday 7th December at 5pm the good news is that at least 2 cinema companies have put in a serious bid to buy the land on Northampton Road with a view to turn in back into a cinema.

The sites current owners advetised the site as a leisure oppertunity in a national campaign as a result of the Harborough Cinema campaign.  At least 2 cinema chains put in a bid. One bid by ‘The Light’ has put in an ambitious scheme involving retail, housing and a 5 screen digital cinema complex.  MD of The Light John Sullivan said “We are very excited about our proposal and we are very much looking forward to bringing cinema back to Market Habrorough’s town centre.

The bids have been put forward to the sites curent owners and a decision is expected as soon as this Wednesday (December 12th).

The news of the bids was greeted with delight at the Cinema Task Force meeting held at the council’s offices on monday evening.  The ambitious plans were passed around the meeting and were judged at this early stage to be both practical and exciting.  They would be a real boost to the town centre was the general opinion.

The scheme now has 2 stages to go.  The current owners will have to accept the bid and the council will have to approve the plans.  The first area will be decided this week.  Assuming that the bid is accepted, the second will take a while longer, but the first impression of the planning officer present at the meeting was the plans seemed well thought out and fell within the guidlines for the town.  

Other developers may have bid on the site so the town awits until Wednesday to hear whether we will have a cinema once more.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 12:25 am and is filed under Harborough Cinema News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.