Cinema giants declare war over rival plans for Walsall
A cinema war has broken out over rival multi-million pound developments that will create hundreds of jobs in Walsall town centre – with both today publicly criticising their rival's plans.
Film heavyweights Odeon and Vue are battling to create cinema complexes.
The rival schemes in Littleton Street and the Walsall Waterfront are both recommended to get the go ahead from Walsall Council, despite concerns that the town is only big enough to accommodate one cinema development.
Developers behind both proposals have now come forward to dismiss their opposition. Vue is lined up to open a venue as part of a proposed £12 million Littleton Centre development near to Tesco, while Odeon is earmarked to form the centrepiece of a separate £12m development at Walsall Waterfront.
Both plans include units for retail, restaurants, cafes and bars and, if approved by councillors during a meeting tomorrow, the developments will bring over 400 jobs to the town.
However, in a statement to planning councillors developer Cordwell – behind the Vue plans – states the opposition project is speculative and based on development aspirations. Kier – the company behind the Odeon proposals – says the Littleton Centre scheme is disjointed from the heart of the town and not linked to the retail core.
James Nicholson, senior development manager for Kier, said the Waterfront project would generate an extra £4.5m for Walsall town centre.
He added: "We feel this is the place for leisure in Walsall." Tom Wilcox, from Cordwell, said: "Vue have inspected every site available in Walsall and do not want any other site. We have worked relentlessly with their internal design team from the outset to accommodate their exacting and high standards in order to achieve a quality cinema operation."
Walsall's head of planning, David Elsworthy, is recommending approval of both applications.
The Odeon scheme was mainly welcomed at a consultation event in March with people claiming it would 'spruce up the centre'. But others voiced concerns about potential anti-social behaviour.
St Matthews Councillor Mohammed Arif said The Littleton Centre development, which includes the Vue cinema, would bring more customers into the town centre .
