Plaid-led Caerphilly County Borough Council has unveiled plans to press ahead with the development of a multiplex cinema as part of the second phase of the Bargoed Retail Plateau scheme.
Caerphilly councillors will be recommended next Tuesday to agree to the authority building a cinema for lease to a national operator. Restaurants/cafes would also form part of the scheme.
Bids will be invited for tenancies of the two units with the council borrowing up to £5m to fund the development.
Councillor Ron Davies, Cabinet member for Regeneration, said: “This is more great news for Bargoed. Work constructing a Morrisons supermarket in the town is about to start and millions of pounds is being spent transforming the town centre. This announcement is the cherry on the icing.
“The regeneration of Bargoed has been a key priority for the Plaid-led Caerphilly County Borough Council. The announcement that we are now proceeding with Phase 2 will give a huge boost to the confidence of traders and residents alike.
“We shall ensure the very latest state-of-the-art technology is featured in the multiplex cinema and this will be a leisure facility which will attract people to the town from far and wide.
“Phase 2 is proceeding because of the vision and commitment of members and officers alike. The key decision is for the council to proceed to commission the work, itself, rather than use consultants as was previously proposed. We shall save some £600,000 in fees and this together with proposed rental income will make the development economically feasible.
“Had we not proceeded this way it is difficult to see how under the present economic circumstances this development could have gone ahead.”
At present there is no dedicated cinema complex serving the county borough’s population of 174,000.
The first phase of the scheme, which includes a Morrisons store, is due to be completed in the autumn of 2013 and the Plaid-led council believes now is the best time to secure a key element of the Bargoed regeneration programme, despite the overall economic situation.
