A push to bring blockbuster movies on the big screen back to Sudbury is gathering momentum, with the local MP claiming he would use a cinema if one was built in the town.
The last picturehouse in Sudbury closed more than 30 years ago and the only place where people can view films on a large screen is currently at the Quay Theatre, which only seats around 100 people.
However, a masterplan is currently being drawn up for a multi-million pound regeneration project in the town’s Hamilton Road quarter, which it is understood will include a small cinema complex.
Babergh District Council has invested almost £5million over the past 18 months to acquire the necessary land for the development which could also house cafes, shops and flats.
The council is working with consultants on a design brief for the site and the initial concept plans are expected to go on show later this year.
According to Simon Barrett, the council’s portfolio holder for growth and the local economy, a cinema is “very much a part of the plan”.
He said: “The Quay Theatre is a lovely venue but it is never going to do the job of mainstream cinema.
“It is definitely part of our aspiration to be able to provide a cinema for Sudbury.
“We will be having a briefing with the consultants next week to see how things are progressing and we will soon be going out with the masterplan showing the public the different options, which we hope will include a cinema.”
The renewed interest comes as west Suffolk MP Matt Hancock reaffirmed his commitment to bring a cinema to Newmarket.
His colleague South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge said a cinema would be a “massive asset” for Sudbury too.
“As long as it would be practically and commercially viable, I would imagine most people in the Sudbury would support having a cinema locally,” Mr Cartlidge said.
“As a dad with four kids, I would love to have a cinema more local than Bury or Colchester but I would not expect it to be a huge multiplex. It would have to be the right size for the town.
“Although we have an aging population, we still have a large number of families in the area that want to go out and do things together. Cinema is something that is very much across the age groups.”
Jane Osborne, Babergh’s portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, would like to see a facility along the lines of the Abbeygate Cinema in Bury’s Hatter Street, which would “fit in well” with Sudbury.
She said: “At the moment people nearly always go to Bury St Edmunds, they do a bit of shopping first and have something to eat before the film, but we want them to come and do that in Sudbury instead. The Hamilton Road development would enable us to offer all those opportunities.”
At one time, Sudbury had two town centre cinemas – the County Picture Palace in King Street and the Gainsborough Electric Theatre in East Street.
The latter was among the first purpose-built cinemas in the provinces when it opened in 1912.
Published by the EADT.