Smokeys’ future still up in the air
Maidenhead: Public inquiry over compulsory purchase
A senior councillor was ‘begging’ the council leader to include a nightclub in the Nicholsons Centre plans as email correspondence was revealed last week.
A public inquiry took place at Maidenhead Town Hall regarding a compulsory purchase order (CPO) issued by the borough on tenants of the centre, which is set for regeneration in a scheme dubbed Nicholson Quarter.
CPOs are used by authorities to acquire land for development – but conclusions have not been finalised with Smokeys nightclub in Nicholsons Lane, owned by the Page family.
The hearing concluded on Friday over plans for the shopping complex, being led by Tikehau Capital and Areli, which bought the centre in 2019.
Thursday saw Will Robinson, development director at Areli, take to the witness seat to be questioned by Smokeys’ representative Annabel Graham Paul and James Pereira, representing the council.
Emails between Smokeys, the council and developers were read out to planning inspector John Felgate, with Ms Graham Paul claiming there was ‘no suggestion’ of redesigning the club into the development.
She added the venue was instead offered space above Holland and Barrett and the snooker hall at the top of
McDonald’s in High Street.
Mr Robinson replied that it was ‘normal’ to explore alternative locations for the club at these early stages of the plans.
An email from ward councillor Donna Stimson to council leader Andrew Johnson from July 2020 was then read, in which she claimed developers were
‘not playing ball’ with regards to relocating the club.
“She is begging the leader of the council to do something about it,” Ms Graham Paul added. “Political pressure is going on at this point.”
Mr Robinson said he
‘knew there was aspiration’ of including the nightclub but because there were a ‘number of moving parts’, Areli was not able to finalise any deal.
The hearing heard that the club was eventually offered space on the ground floor of the new multi-storey car park in Broadway, owned by the council.
But the issue of a suitable smoking area with the correct ventilation turned out to be a key sticking point and no agreement has been
reached.
Ms Graham Paul added that no detailed tests had been carried out to show whether a night-time venue could operate out of the space – claiming ‘no nightclub could lawfully function’ there due to inefficient fire exits.
This angered Mr Pereira, who asked why this issue had not been raised during several years’ worth of discussions.
“We have been trying to resolve an issue here and I am concerned there is something else festering that we were not aware of,” he said.
Mr Robinson explained he felt it was ‘unlikely’ that a solution could be found for the smoking area, confirming that it would also be a problem if Smokeys was relocated elsewhere.
“We have no objection at all to a nightclub use within the scheme,” he said. “We believe the appropriate place is within the multistorey car park; clearly the difficulty we have is the smoking area.”
Mr Felgate quipped that the club would be a ‘nonsmoking Smokeys’ and asked Mr Robinson what he could say to the Page family with regards to reconfiguring the car park space.
“What I can’t say is we will provide a smoking area but the internal space, we can configure,” he said.
A decision date on the
CPO has not yet been confirmed.