DRIVE-IN’S SHOCK CLOSURE
Parting shot at council
A BELOVED institution of Charters Towers that has served the community for more than 50 years has been forced to shut.
The owners of Tors DriveIn Cinema have blasted the Charters Towers Regional Council for destroying their business. The drive-in has been entertaining locals and tourists since 1966.
Owners Steve and Deb Snell have posted an emotional goodbye on the cinema’s Facebook page.
“Unfortunately, we have sad news,” they wrote.
“We were hoping to reopen very soon as new movies are slowly released, but after being knocked by the COVID-19 shutdown, and knowing that we’d still be competing against the ratepayerfunded World Theatre Cinemas, we regret to advise that we have no choice but to remain closed.
“We are heartbroken for our family of staff, fellow businesses and wonderful patrons, and know that the loss will be felt deeply by many of you.
“However, should we have a council in the future that reverses the decision to compete unfairly against us while billing the huge losses to the ratepayers, we would be very keen to re-open our drive-in cinemas for the region.”
The Snells, who have managed the drive-in for 30 years, said they attempted to negotiate with the council, but their calls fell on deaf ears as the council chose to continue to fund their rival.
“We believe that a minority of councillors fought hard against this decision in a recent meeting, and hopefully the minutes of this meeting will be made public in the spirit of ‘openness and transparency’ that we keep hearing from council,” the statement said.
“It is hard enough for a cinema venue to survive without any competition in a small town, so you can only imagine how difficult it’s been to compete with council for nearly 24 years.
“After the World Cinemas opened in 1996, our business was destroyed, and we had to close our own indoor cinema and work other jobs around the clock, and make real sacrifices to keep the drive-in open for the region.
“If the World Cinemas are a ‘community service’, then what does that make us, and why does council operate those cinemas as a commercial facility to dominate the local market?”
Charters Towers Mayor Frank Beveridge responded to the claims on Tuesday afternoon.
“Council is aware the Tors Drive-in issued a social media post this afternoon announcing their decision to close,” Cr Beveridge said in a statement.
“We are also acutely aware the Tors Drive-in claims this decision is due to council opening The World Theatre complex, which includes cinema, in 1996.
“Our position is that The World Theatre offers a different, and valued, experience for our community members than the Tors Drive-in, and that it is part of the cultural fabric of our town and region.
“We feel for Steve and Deb Snell that they have reached this decision, however council will be continuing to offer its cinema operations, as part of the overall offering at The World Theatre.”