On 11 Dec 2014 at 12:09pm F.Y.I. wrote:
South downs national park planning committee unanimously and enthusiastically approve the The Depot Cinema proposal so we are getting a new 3 screen cinema and restaurant complex in lewes.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 12:48pm Nosey wrote:
What about the Premier Inn?
On 11 Dec 2014 at 12:49pm Zebedee wrote:
The planning committee called the Depot proposal exemplary. Each and every one loved it and thought the design exciting. The LTC objection was called bizarre and the highways authority requirements greedy. Not one of the objectors turned up (not even Counsellor Catlin). Well done Carmen Slijpen and Robert Senior. We are proud of you and profoundly grateful. Its going to be a great development and a wonderful legacy for our town. Oh, and SDNP also passed the very dull Premier Inn proposal. Oh well, you can't win 'em al
On 11 Dec 2014 at 1:01pm the kronic wrote:
Brilliant news on both counts for the majority of Lewes people.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 1:30pm Xplorer1 wrote:
Great news re the cinema. +
Great news re the cinema. Can't wait.
Premier Inn proposal - I'm in favour of that too, except for the car-parking issue, and the management of demolition and construction traffic.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 1:44pm Charles Chaplin wrote:
Oh good - another restaurant complex
On 11 Dec 2014 at 1:50pm Southover Queen wrote:
Were you there too, Zebedee? I agree with everything you say: such a brilliant result. I loved the chairman's comments at the end, effectively saying that SDNPA would not allow ESCC Highways dept to hold the proposal to ransom over the access issues.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 1:54pm cin-tastic wrote:
Yippiee! We can't wait for the cinema! Not in favour of Premier Inn, but better to see it built on a brownfield site rather than greenfield.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 2:42pm Amy wrote:
pleased on both accounts. With regard to parking, many premier inns are in towns with poor car parking. The plans are no worse than the magistrates court.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 4:26pm Zebedee wrote:
Just behind you SQ. ;-)
On 11 Dec 2014 at 4:27pm belladonna wrote:
fantastic news. Both proposals will be good for the town.
when does the cinema get built ? thank god no more all saints or lewes little theatre seating/projection!
personally I have no problem with a premier inn - they are excellent value for ordinary folk and always a good standard of beds and service. Food can be a bit bland and bog standard, but lets face it, Lewes is not a foodie destination! My only concern would be if they had a wetherspooons type pub, which have terrible reputations
On 11 Dec 2014 at 4:54pm Southover Queen wrote:
Gotcha, Zebedee.
I agree with you about Premier Inn too, belladonna. It's good honest value, and will put the Crown and the White Hart under pressure finally - and that can only be good.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 6:33pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Delighted about the cinema. Well done to all involved.
No problems with the Premier Inn, in principle, but I didn't like the look of the building.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 6:57pm Ed Can Do wrote:
Premier Inns almost always do have a rather naff bar which doubles as a restaurant in the evening and is used for serving breakfast in the morning. They tend to have standard prices though which are pretty extortionate so I wouldn't have thought anyone would actually go drinking there.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 7:03pm Fred wrote:
Good news on both decisions. Lewes needs to move forward and this will help. Just have the other derelict town sites to resolve. Have noted a lot more tourists visiting Lewes from all countries and during all seasons. Just need the Uckfield rail link to be approved by SDNP!!!!!!
On 11 Dec 2014 at 7:07pm Boris wrote:
Great news, now you will be able to watch three pretentious, sub-titled films under the one roof.
I do hope the plans have accommodated some affordable space for the "artists".
On 11 Dec 2014 at 7:25pm Old Bloke wrote:
Put the Crown and White Hart under pressure?
Do leave off,
Both dumps that could do with more than a face lift - I feel itchy if have to as much as walk past
On 11 Dec 2014 at 7:45pm Boris wrote:
There's a little bit of a problem with your spelling there Belladonna.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 8:46pm Southover Queen wrote:
Yes, Old Bloke. It will put them under pressure. The Crown will probably sink, because it needs too much investment and - frankly - management expertise. The White Hart? It's a fine old Inn which should be possible to improve, if there's willingness on the part of the owners to invest. Until now they haven't had to, because guests would come anyway. They'll have a choice now and so the owners will be obliged to put some proper money into it.
Unlike you, Old Bloke, I'm unwilling to slag off a business in such a way.
On 11 Dec 2014 at 11:53pm Old Bloke wrote:
@Southover Queen - probably because you have no b alls
On 12 Dec 2014 at 2:40am Local bod wrote:
Shame about Lewes Cinema. Was that notice posted today?
Anyone know if Lewes Town Council have congratulated The Depot on the success of their planning application yet?
On 12 Dec 2014 at 7:46am Belladonna wrote:
I wonder if the town councillors who objected would like to now come on this forum and put their full support behind the Depot - and maybe even apologise for the ridiculous assertions made over the objections made regarding access, parking and business viability. They could now put the energy and finances from the All Saints cinema into another project - Xmas lights ???
On 12 Dec 2014 at 12:21pm Local bod wrote:
In retrospect Counselor Catlin's drive to spend £30k of our money on the recent additions to All Saints looks a touch misguided.
On 12 Dec 2014 at 1:30pm Humbert wrote:
When it comes to the elections in May can we all agree to not vote at all for anyone in the Town Council unless someone sets up a party specifically to disband it?
On 12 Dec 2014 at 1:54pm Merlin Milner wrote:
It is really great news about the Depot. We were never against the idea but really about the details or lack of in the application. Anyway lets move on and hope that it is a success.
In future it would be nice if more people came to our planning meetings (including the applicants) and hear what we actually say and why. It would also allow you to contribute to our discussions and highlight issues that we may not be aware of.
BTW LTC has contributed much money to Xmas lights in the past.
Humbert perhaps LDC is the authority that should go and we revert back to a Lewes Borough Council?
On 12 Dec 2014 at 3:54pm Humbert wrote:
Nah, LTC definitely is the one to go. But that's not the point of this post so let's not hijack it.
On 12 Dec 2014 at 5:56pm mike wrote:
I agree on both counts 'Humbert'.
On 12 Dec 2014 at 7:21pm Ed Can Do wrote:
Lewes Town Council are largely inoffensive and are at least locally representative. I'd definitely jog on Lewes District Council first if we actually had the chance to get rid of one.
I think people would be generally less suspicious of the actions and motives of all of our various councils if they were just a bit more communicative about them. With the money saved from sacking the idiot who posted the tweet about the Waterloo tab, maybe ESCC could hire a decent communications person who spends their time knocking up decent summaries of meetings and who voted which way and so forth and putting that in a weekly bulletin or something. When that turned out to be successful maybe the other councils could follow their lead?
On 12 Dec 2014 at 8:31pm mike wrote:
I'm sorry: I can't let the comment that 'LDC are largely inoffensive ' go unnoticed. The political behaviour and decisions of some councilors - not all - in the past year has been seen I believe by many in this town as totally unacceptable and unprofessional. I cannot believe that they have necessarily been acting in the best interests of those they claim to represent.
On 12 Dec 2014 at 9:00pm mike wrote:
apologies - I meant Lewes Town Council!
On 13 Dec 2014 at 9:19am bastian wrote:
No, mike, you were right both times and you can add ESCC to the list.
On 13 Dec 2014 at 8:52pm Belladonna wrote:
Mm - I think you are being disingenuous saying the town council were never against the idea. I seem to remember one of the objections was to the business viability and that there was no need (in LTC opinion) for another 'cinema' in town. There were also ridiculous comments made about whether people wanted this sort of evening entertainment in Lewes (can't remember exact wording).
Why can't politicians fess up and say 'Sorry, we were wrong, we made a mistake' ? They would earn a lot more respect than digging their heels in and then trying to close down the subject by saying 'let's move on'. In future it would be nice if our local representatives became less full of hot air
On 13 Dec 2014 at 9:09pm Southover Queen wrote:
I think you're right, Belladonna. That's closer to my memory anyway, and to be honest the planning committee couldn't make much sense of the submission from LTC either. I'm afraid that I can't help thinking that the All Saints project clouded thinking a bit. Now, finally, Lewes has something for people to do which isn't a PUB!
On 14 Dec 2014 at 9:08am Oh no... wrote:
Your memories serve you well. From the LTC planning committee minutes 24th April 2014
Members listened to comments by Lewes Film Club, and local residents, and shared their concerns in several areas. Whilst there was almost universal approval of the architectural design of the building, which was said to be of a very high standard and an intelligent and attractive adaptation, the use for which it was intended was considered inappropriate and unnecessary and it was predicted that it would cause severe problems locally.
Claims and assumptions that the patrons of a 300-seat capacity cinema/restaurant/community space would be attracted to travel without cars were considered to be extremely naïve. The proposals were said to generate too much entry:exit activity for such a small and difficult-to-access site. Local access roads (part privately-owned) were too narrow and junctions very awkward. Nearby parking provision would be inadequate and local residents could suffer badly. It was commented that the Depot was a building that had originally been sited to best-enjoy ease of access to/from a railway; not roads. Any properly-conducted local access survey would highlight existing “pressure points” such as football match days for both Lewes FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC, when parking caused severe difficulties in the area. Survey material and statements supporting the application were considered rather superficial.
It was difficult to accept there was adequate demand for the services to be provided, as it was perceived to offer nothing that was not already offered close-by. Cinemagoers were offered latest releases by a small, private, commercial operator at Lewes Little Theatre (equipped with digital projection technology); second-run films were available at low prices at the well-equipped All Saints arts and community centre (Town Council-operated) a few metres away from the Depot site, and ‘art’ and foreign-language films were also shown there by the long-established local charity Lewes Film Club. This also was likely to be enhanced with a digital projector in the near future.
Neither of these venues enjoyed large audiences and it was difficult to reconcile this situation with the claimed support for a three-screen dedicated cinema seating over 300 in total, and operating ‘full-time’. It is doubtful that these local venues could co-exist with the proposed Depot Cinema. A larger, dedicated, cinema was at Uckfield, and this, together with Brighton and Eastbourne cinemas catered for those who preferred to leave Lewes for a ‘night out’.
Similarly; the suggested community space context was difficult to reconcile, as there were existing facilities close-by and available at very low cost. The Santon Group, the developer of the North Street Quarter, has recently produced a ‘Cultural Space Audit’ of the town which does not support the claimed need, and if it is mooted that there is unsatisfied demand, the Santon Group proposals allow for a large cultural building within their scheme which would be better-placed for all modes of access.
Members OBJECT to this application for these reasons.
Check it out here »
On 14 Dec 2014 at 9:18am Popcorn wrote:
Great news! How about an inaugural screening for all those who petitioned in favour! ;-)