New plans downscale Scarborough cinema complex and increase flat numbers

Problems obtaining high street chains to fill eight restaurant units on the site have delayed work on the cinema on the former Atlantis site ion North Bay.

New plans have now been drawn up by developers Benchmark Leisure which would see the number of restaurants drop from eight to five and the number of cinema screens decrease from seven to five or six.

While the number of flats on the development would double from 33 to 75.

The cinema was originally set to open in Autumn of this year before being pushed back to June 2019.

It is now hoped that the cinema will open during the summer season next year as developers insist the cinema will go ahead.

A spokesperson for Benchmark Leisure said: “Due to the very challenging market in the high street restaurant market it has become necessary for us to relook at the cinema plans to ensure they remain deliverable and sustainable.

"This has resulted in an amendment to the overall masterplan that will include going from seven cinema screens to five or six, reducing the restaurant units from eight to five and increasing the residential element by around double to 75 apartments.

"It has become clear with some recent very high profile failings in the high street restaurant market that this sector is undergoing major change and, for our scheme, it will not be able to subsidise the cinema element, as we had always planned. However, we still remain committed to delivering a high quality multi-screen cinema complex that we feel the town deserves.

"These changes to the plans will ensure that, if planning is granted for the slightly smaller scheme, we can keep to the broad timescales and get the cinema opened next year."

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