Cinema plan for abandoned council HQ site
A cinema and retail stores could be built as part of a major transformation of the abandoned council headquarters site in Ashington.
Northumberland County Council launched a public consultation in September over the future of the plot of land in Portland Park.
It had been earmarked for the council’s new £32m headquarters but the plans were scrapped in favour of refurbishing the existing County Hall in Morpeth.
The council’s regeneration arm Arch commissioned feasibility studies and interviewed hundreds of people over possible options for the site. And it is now developing an outline planning application which could include a multi-screen cinema, restaurants and retail stores.
The plans will run alongside efforts to identify a cinema operator and businesses interested in occupying the proposed retail units.
Council leader and Arch board member, Peter Jackson, said: “We listened to the public in September and the message came over loud and clear that they wanted us to look at a cinema offering to breathe new life into the town by complementing the existing retail on Station Road.
“It has been over three decades since we had a commercial cinema in Ashington and yet the studies we commissioned following the public suggestions show there is some real potential if the town gets firmly behind the idea.
“The next stage for us is to make it as easy a decision as possible for an operator to come here.
“We will be pursuing an outline planning application for the site while putting in the legwork to help show that it is a highly attractive proposition.”
Coun Jackson said more than 50,000 people live within a ten-minute drive of Portland Park and more than 500,000 visits are made every year to the town’s leisure centre.
“The feeling of our advisers is that there is a good opportunity to make this happen, though nothing can be guaranteed just yet,” he added.