A new cinema will be able to thrive in the city despite the rise in home streaming, the leader of Lichfield District Council has said.
Planning permission was granted for the transformation of the former Debenhams site into a four-screen facility.
The work will also see some neighbouring retail units knocked down to create a wider plaza area at the front of the building and develop a link through to the wider redevelopment plans on the Birmingham Road site.
However, some critics have highlighted the rise of streaming options such as Netflix and the challenges facing some cinema operators.
But Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of the council, said cinemas remained a viable business:
“Some of the big, out of town multiplexes like the ones I might have gone to as a child are the ones perhaps no longer doing as well – but we see smaller boutique cinemas that offer an experience and a night out in a nice environment doing really well.
“The operator we’re looking to proceed with, their visitor numbers, their spend per visitor, their screening times are all up. They’re opening venues at a fairly decent rate of knots across the UK. So the type of operator we’re looking to work with certainly aren’t failing.
“While we might have Netflix at home, well I’ve got a kitchen at home but I still like to go out to eat.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
Although much focus has been on the cinema development itself, Cllr Pullen added that the wider benefits of the scheme also needed to be considered.
In a video released on the council’s YouTube channel, he said:
“A cinema has long been perceived as a game changer for Lichfield city centre.
“We know that a cinema brings other businesses with it, whether that’s restaurants or shops – they naturally attract other types of businesses.
“It’ll be really good in terms of public transport too. It’s right opposite the train station and operators regularly look at when people want to be using trains, so we’ve already had an early indication that if a cinema were to be open then more train services would be put on to Lichfield City, particularly later in the evening.
“That will not only be helpful for people who are visiting the cinema, but it would be helpful for people who are visiting our existing wonderful independent restaurants and bars, so it’s really, really important not only to the economy directly, but also to our wider population as well.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
