Major plans for multiplex cinema and redevelopment of Scarborough's Brunswick Centre set to be approved

Scarborough Group International, which bought the centre in September 2021, wants to completely overhaul the building into a leisure-led destination, including a cinema with between five and seven screens, national bar and restaurants chains and a refreshed retail offering.

The real-estate giant, whose chairman Kevin McCabe is based in the town, submitted the redevelopment plans to the authority earlier this year.

Now, Scarborough Council’s Planning and Development Committee is set to hear the plans today, Thursday March 9, which have been recommended for approval.

‘Overwhelming support’

The development has so far received 61 official letters of support, including Cllr John Atkinson, who represents Northstead Ward.

In a report prepared for councillors by Scarborough Council’s head of planning, David Walker, he recommended that the plans are given the green light, subject to conditions.

The proposal includes a modern redevelopment of the interior and exterior of the building, refurbished shop fronts along Westborough and new entrances. You can read the full extent of the detailed plans for the Brunswick centre here.

Cinema screenings in Scarborough are currently limited to the one-screen Hollywood Plaza and the Stephen Joseph Theatre, who have said “we can work together”.

‘A cinema at last?’

This development is the latest in a long-running saga to build a multiplex cinema in Scarborough. Three iterations of plans by developer Benchmark for a cinema, restaurants and flats in the North Bay came to nothing.

Developer MRP said it intended to convert the former Argos building on Newborough into a cinema in 2016, but plans did not move ahead.