THE leader of Lichfield District Council says he stands by efforts to create a bright future for the city centre in the wake of the failed Friarsgate scheme.
The long-awaited redevelopment scheme hit the buffers back in 2018 when it emerged funding could not be found for the project, despite land being purchased and cleared.
Now branded as the Birmingham Road Site, work is now taking place on an alternative mixed-use scheme rather than a solely commercial one as its predecessor had proposed.
It has already seen the multi-storey car park demolished, while conversion has begun on the former Debenhams store to turn it into a new Everyman cinema. It will also house new food and drink outlets.
Meanwhile, the one-time Tempest Ford site has since been sold for housing.
Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of Lichfield District Council, said that the current scheme’s focus meant it would be more achievable than previous efforts.
He said:
“I certainly won’t attempt to defend some of the historical decisions around Friarsgate, but equally I won’t shy away from my part in the decisions from 2019 onwards when I was elected leader.
“I took the decisions to break the site up into smaller component parts to get things moving, to put a design code in place to ensure anything built would take an architectural form which we as residents could be proud of, to drastically reduce the proposed retail units – which would have killed the rest of the city – and to encourage the private sector to develop the site rather than the council trying again and again and failing.
“We will now have a cinema coming to Lichfield, a genuinely high-quality housing development on a brownfield site opposite the train station, a multi-million pound cheque back to the council to cover it’s outlay as well as ongoing rental yield, a linear park to improve the ‘welcome’ to the city from the train station, and hundreds of jobs.”
Firstly, let me commend Cllr. Pullen for responding to the concerns being expressed. Accounting to the public for council decisions and actions if fundamental to democracy.
Do I agree with him? Well no! In a city like Lichfield it is important to maintain its ethos and heritage. I acknowledge this can be difficult while maintaining services and facilities but many similar towns and cities do it successfully. It is not acceptable to just do somthing (anything !) because we can’t think of any alternatives. Housing for this site is a particular thorn which the population has regularly rejected, but there, housing it is. Likewise with the cinema. Somthing of a modest nature would have been fine. Instead we ‘might’ have a multiplex, money pit, demolition imposed white elephant. I might say the same about the new leisure site but the exact opposite applies to that. Fortunes spent on designs and research and we finish up with housing?! No Cllr. Pullen that is still a bad move.
While Everyman Cinema has shown strong revenue growth after the pandemic with thanks due to some blockbuster hits and increased market share, the financial results reveal concerning trends. Everyman isn’t alone with this trend as other cinema chains feel the same pressure. The company’s operating loss has significantly widened to £3.4m from £0.1m, and the loss before tax has nearly doubled to £10.2m. Despite a 17.9% increase in revenue and growth in admissions, average ticket prices, and food & beverage spend, these improvements have not translated into profitability. The increased losses, particularly in the face of revenue growth, suggest underlying cost pressures or operational inefficiencies that are eroding the company’s financial performance. What we dont want is the taxpayers of the city seeing their money being wasted yet again in the millions and empty cinema…again. The warning flags have been waving for years.
I think the cinema and associated bars/eateries is great and will help revitalise that area. It surprises me that so many people on here complain about investment in our city centre. I do however think that the Council has allowed far too many ugly buildings in the centre and the surrounds in the form of high-density, poor quality housing estates and flats that aren’t in keeping with the character of Lichfield. I also think the swimming pool should have been an all-singing, all-dancing leisure centre, in a more appropriate place. Those are mistakes in my view.
It’s just so mehhh. Would it have been so hard to make it with a façade that matches the city style.
The shopping street is already ugly. This doesn’t do a lot to balance against that.
Disappointed that this site will be used for yet more housing, not sure who would want to live on such a busy road? I’m sure in the current climate it’s not easy to think of the best use for this site but I think some kind of recreational facility would have been better, considering all the new family homes being built then maybe something for children / young people like an indoor play centre or something for teenagers as there’s little on offer for that age. As for the Everyman development-at last we are getting a proper cinema but about 40 years too late, hoping it will be successful to bring life to that part of town. Agree with another comment about the leisure centre, doesn’t seem like it will be big enough for the ever expanding population of Lichfield and odd location. Don’t want to be negative about these developments, it’s just that in Lichfield these thing always seem a bit half baked somehow!! Though I think Beacon Park and it’s events is really successful!
“a genuinely high-quality housing development on a brownfield site opposite the train station”.
At the cost of the bus station that is seemingly still on the cards. The ire from giving 61% of the space available on the site to housing is deserved, but don’t sell off our community assets to speed up dusting the council’s failings for this site under the rug. If the council is confident this is what the public is willing to offer for their plans they should stake their reputation on a local referendum.
With hindsight leisure centre with pool etc all of Friarsgate with parking – & cinema & food outlets out of town would work better. Works nicely with Red Carpet!!