Council chiefs have backed proposals for a land transfer as part of a plan to bring a new cinema to Lichfield city centre.
The joint venture with Evolve Estates, owners of the Three Spires shopping centre, will see the former Debenhams building converted into a multi-screen facility.
A report of decisions made at the meeting of the cabinet at Lichfield District Council said:
“The cabinet agreed and recommended to full council that Lichfield District Council’s freehold ownership of the Three Spires Shopping Centre site – excluding the Debenham’s building and six retail units at 32 to 44 Bakers Lane – be exchanged for the leasehold of the same six retail properties.”
Lichfield District Council
Cllr Mike Wilcox, cabinet member for waste, recycling, ecology and climate change, said he was pleased the local authority was retaining control of some parts of the site.
“We are still holding the freehold of those six units so it stops anyone doing anything without our consent, which gives us peace of mind that someone can’t come along and do something else with it.”
Cllr Mike Wilcox, Lichfield District Council
The cinema had originally been planned as part of the Birmingham Road Site on land where the failed Friarsgate scheme had been proposed more than a decade ago.
But the joint venture will now see the retail unit previously occupied by Debenhams and TJ Hughes converted to create the new facility along with food and beverage outlets.
Proposals have also been put forward which would see the demolition of the nearby multi-storey car park and the removal of some of the existing stores in the Three Spires shopping centre, with visuals of how the finished project will look showcasing a wider precinct area.
The hope is that such a move would also open up the cinema area to link in with any future development on the Birmingham Road land.
The final decision on the land transfer will be made at a meeting of the council on 11th July.
