Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Graham, Tom and Ian
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What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Tatton cinema makeover completed
by Lib Dem team on 7 January, 2012
The former Tatton Cinema has now completed its makeover, with the banner going up on Friday. This has been paid for by the owner of the site, not from taxpayers’ money!
Whilst this is an improvement on how the site has looked recently, we want this to be short term only.
We firmly believe that the site needs to be put to good use – and will continue to work with the developers and the Council to sure a long-term future for the location in the heart of Gatley. However, in the meantime, this is certainly an improvement to what was there before.
Have to say I’m unconvinced that drawing attention to this derelict eyesore like this is such a great idea.
I totally agree with John. All it does is catch the attention of passers by – in THAT condition not a good thing to do.
What idiot thinks these things up?
I must be missing something here but how can a sign be classed as a makeover? I went to the original meeting in 2001 at Kingsway School when this site was first discussed- it has since been mentioned by local and national politicians every time there is an election with promises to do something. One thing has always confused me – how can a company buy something and sit on it for 11 years with no incoming income.
What a fiasco – a touch of black paint and a cloth banner only emphasises what a complete mess the whole saga is.
The ONLY way forward is to develop it!
Was an eyesore and is still an eyesore.
Hi Phil,
What I referred to as the “makeover” is the boarding put across the front and round the side, painted black in addition to the sign.
I agree completely that we need the site developed, though I have to say that Lib Dem politicians have never promised that we could make that happen – only that we would work hard and try everything we can (which we have done). We’ve always made clear that it’s a privately owned site and we can’t force action.
You ask how a company can buy it and then sit on it for 11 years. The site has actually been through several owners since 2001, with the current owners buying it in 2005. Financially for an owner, it can make sense to wait to right deal to come along, or for property prices to increase, rather than do something quickly but make a loss.
The current owners did, of course, want to do something with it in 2008 but local businesses and residents did not feel it was the right solution.
If you look across the country, you’ll find many thousands of similar situations where someone has bought land or property and is waiting for the right time to do something with it (sometimes called ‘land banking’).
Just like the old ‘Barnes’ hospital site, it appears that developers purposely neglect the structure (especially if it has a conservation order on it) let it fall into decay and then the council finally give in and it gets knocked down. Why not a CPO on the Tatton, and develop it with part of it for the benefit of the local community? Now that would get some votes.
Hi Geoff,
The current owners (Dickens Property Group) are keen to develop the site, and have spent the last few years looking for solutions that have the support of local residents and work for them financially. As councillors, we’ve had numerous meetings looking at options and will continue to do so.
We have looked at CPO in the past. Much as we’d love to, there are a couple of issues.
First, a CPO is essentially the Council forcing the sale from the current owner to a new developer. The Council itself doesn’t have the money to buy the site at a time when we’re having to shave millions from our budget. We don’t currently have an alternative developer who would buy it.
Second, there are ways to get round a CPO (which is why it was rejected last time it was looked at) so it wouldn’t be a simple issue even if we did have a buyer.
A CPO can work when an owner is sitting on a site and the Council either has another developer who’s keen to do something, or can be pretty certain of generating enough revenue from the site itself to cover the borrowing costs. Neither is the case here, unfortunately.
I’ve always understood that the Tatton was not a listed building. Am I wrong?
I always thought it was a very ugly building even at the best of times and certainly not worth keeping.
I’m not at all thrilled by this !!!!!
Please remember, whilst some people don’t like the look of the tatton, when refurbished it would compliment the area. The last plans that were declined would have been a bigger eyesore than the one we have now, and that would have lasted a lifetime. I again draw peoples attention to the ugly block of shops and flats opposite gatley green, we don’t want a similar carbuncle on the site of the tatton.
At least the “ugly” block of shops opposite Gatley Green are all full of working businesses and bringing customers into the area which is more than can be said for the Tatton which has been empty and derelict for almost 8% of it’s working life.
A slight correction – although there was an original proposal for the Tatton site that many did think was ugly, the developers revised it in light of the comments and the one that actually went to Planning and had the big campaign against it included retaining the art deco frontage.
For a ‘complete makeover’… pull the building down !
Does anyone know what plans were declined by the council for the Old Tatton Cinema.
Hi Rashid,
The full plans will be on the Council website – in the planning section.
The short version is that it was for a small supermarket at the front with some limited parking (retaining the existing Art Deco frontage) and a care home at the rear.
The reason that this saga has dragged on for so long and attracted more blog comment than any other topic is nothing to do with developer inactivity, council intransigence or bungled CPOs, but because the building in question is an old cinema. There is no other building type that I know of that provokes such sentiment, such nostalgic lament and such unrealistic ideas as to what can be done with it than a clapped out old picture house. This is easily quantified, since the rise of the multiplex in the 90s there are now hundreds of these old cinemas now abandoned across the country, some are listed but the bulk of them, like the Tatton, are not. And across the land there are developers constantly battling with local communities with differing ideas about what should be done. Developer wants to put something new and profitable up, local community wants the past preserved and the cinema restored to its former glory and re-opened for community use. Nothing could be more impossible but these fantasists believe it.
More to the point, these fantasists effectively block any attempt by the developer to move things on. If the plans do not involve restoring the building to its original use (and they never do) they go for the stalemate – nothing. That way they can go on dreaming of the day it re-opens as a cinema and the developer is hounded out of town with the cry of ‘victory!’
The fantasists of Gatley took a bit longer to nail their colours to the mast, but a least now with that silly lottery scheme of theirs they have done so and told us what we could have guessed years ago – that it’s a simple straightforward matter to buy the building for community use and restore it to its former glory. What a surprise. No developer is going to agree with that nonsense and so we face the real prospect of nothing happening on this site all, and that isn’t good enough.
Iain, you have skirted round this issue with some brilliance but in trying to please everyone simply allows this situation to persist. If you really are committed to moving things forward then you may find yourself backing the only viable plan now possible for the site; knock the lot down and start again. And I don’t care that it’s in a conservation area, so was the Cine City in Withington and the bulldozers made short work of that. If you are prepared to stand up to these fantasists you may find you’ll have more support than you could have imagined, it’s only by burying this corpse that we can ever hope to sow the seeds of regeneration
re: Mike Savage. Savage by name Savage by nature, but, here ,here, here.
Uncultured peasants! You don’t recognise a beautiful and original building when you see one! I suppose you would rather live in a bland, featureless world of dull, identical buildings with no character? Boring lot!
re: J.Clark. Oneself appreciates good architecture… the Tatton is NOT ! Guessing you must be one those ‘fantasists’ ?!
Robert Taggart,
No, I’m just someone with taste. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…
re: Clarky ! good buildings in Gatley…
Gatley Hall, Gatley Hill House, Saint James Church and The Clock Tower (?). Otherwise – so, so.
If you say so Taggers
This debate has probably run its course, but it does highlight something we find as we knock on doors and speak to hundreds of people across the area. There are genuine differences of opinion.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and there are some very keen to keep the Art Deco frontage and others who would as soon lose it.
From our side, we will continue to work with the Council and the Developers to find a solution that stacks up financially for the owners and is acceptable to local residents.
Hey, what’s wrong with wishing the building could be restored and reopened as a cinema? Cinemas over the last decade have been booming. Lots of small cinemas have been sabed by enthusiasts and compaign groups and many have reopened and now flourshing. I don’t see any reason why that couldn’t happen here given the rightt company backing the project. Has anyone actually considered seeing if the current owners would be interested to lease the property? I would be very interested to join a group interested to get the cinema reopen.
Jonko
Have a look round the back – they knocked the auditorium down years ago.There is now no \cinema\.
What is left is the foyer, and probably what used to be the \Mini\ above the foyer.
Commercially it has to be a combination of retail and residential, most likely convenience store and sheltered accomodation (as per the last proposal).
There is no need for it to be an eyesore, and I feel sure that our councillors would ensure that structures are right for the area.
Nevermind it being turned into a care home and another supermarket! It should be developed into a NEW cinema like it has always been, to give kids and people around the area something to do.
Do we really need another supermarket?
Sort it out.
Hi Andy,
If you’ve got a commercial proposal, or know someone who has, to turn the site into a new cinema then please let us know! We’ve always been keen to look for viable uses for the site and if there’s something that stacks up commercially, we can put you in touch with the current site owners.
Iain
I agree with Andy the Tatton should be a cinema, I lived in the area as a child and loved my weekly trips to the Tatton, I have just retuned to the area with my own children and would love to the same for them, I had the money I would buy myself as I’m sure I could put together I viable business plan but as I don’t means has anyone every looked to running it as a community project? with money raised from the community and maybe a lottery grant to buy and refit the building and a volunteer work force to run it.
Iain,
Friends and II have an idea to return the Tatton back into a cinema. I watched many movies growing up at the Tatton and always looked forward to seeing what was on the billboard heading up to Parrswood.
I will be putting together a business plan for our idea and will report back once completed.
I believe that the Tatton Cinema should become a place for a community room, where the public can book it for occasions such as parties or weddings, or even dance and exercise classes. There could also be small meeting rooms up for booking, and an internet cafe. As there is no library in Gatley, there is nowhere where the public can access computers if they do not have one at home. Internet cafes are very important.
I’m in my mid 20’s now but remember fondly going to the Tatton in my primary school years with my parents and always enjoyed the experience, i think the last film i saw there was Chicken Run (in 98?!)… but i digress…
I now drive past the cinema (or ‘site’ as it’s now better referred to) every day on my way to work and on a personal level i’d love it to become a cinema once again but opinion needs to base itself in reality some times and would it honestly be able to compete with the Parrs Wood cinema complex?!
I’ve no idea the state of the internal cinema building itself but surely it would need gutting (chairs, screens, sound systems etc) that’s if they haven’t already been removed and replaced… you’d need such lofty investment that only the owners of Manchester City might be willing to throw a half mill at it!
But in all seriousness, if it were the become something more along the lines of a foreign language cinema perhaps? (something not offered at Parrs Wood).. or showing those smaller budget films that get a showing at Cannes/Sundance but never make it to the bigger cinemas….
Bottom line is money money money…..
I’m originally from Macclesfield, been living in London the last twenty years, had enough and moving back up north. My mum lives around the corner from the site and each time I go past I think it’s a crying shame that the site is just lying there empty. I’ve been organising film related events here in London and have been offered funding by a film festival for my next one and I’m determined to run this one up north. I make no money from the events I run, it’s a labour of love, but I agree with some of the other posters – Tatton could become a really special, intimate cinema with a totally different feel to the nearby multiplex. I would love to talk to other people who would be interested in bringing this cinema back to life. If there’s enough people who really want it I really think we can make it happen!