New council announces rethink over Old River Lane arts centre

The new Green and Lib Dem controlled administration at East Herts Council has decided to pause the arts centre element of the redevelopment of Old River Lane in Bishop’s Stortford while it consults with local residents on the facilities they would like to see provided. However, having considered the implications, no doubt primarily financial, it looks as though they have found themselves powerless to scrap the overall project, initiated by previous Conservative-controlled administrations.

It was back in 2017 that the idea of a mixed use redevelopment of land primarily comprising the flat level Causeway car park close to Waitrose was first mooted. Proposals were for the area to become a new cultural quarter with a council-owned arts centre building with a 500-seat theatre and cinema screens at its heart, along with new homes and retail.

Cityheart was later chosen as the council’s development partner for the project in 2019.

But the scheme has become increasingly unpopular. In 2021 the council decided a theatre was no longer viable and that the arts building would house five cinema screens instead.

The Causeway car park was closed

Shock as Empire Cinema closes

Just as East Herts Council announced its plans to revisit the proposed arts provision at Old River Lane, news broke that Bishop’s Stortford’s Empire Cinema had shut its doors.

The previous council administration decided for financial reasons that a theatre on the site would no longer be viable. Instead, it proposed the arts centre building would house a five-screen cinema. Residents questioned the logic of this when the town already had a multiplex in Anchor Street. But in a bizarre twist of fate, the town is now without a cinema after news broke on 7th July that Empire Cinemas had appointed administrators and while some venues were being kept open with a view to them finding a buyer, Bishop’s Stortford was one of six

Cllr Mione Goldspink and the site of the planned Old River Lane scheme in Bishop’s in 2022 with a new multi-storey car park at Northgate End opened to serve the development. But The Causeway lies empty despite planning permission not having been granted yet for the scheme.

The council also bought the United Reformed Church Hall, which is used by theatre and community groups. It is planned to be demolished, along with the Charringtons House office block, to make way for the new development. Both demolitions have been vociferously opposed.

The new council administration, elected in May, wanted to see what improvements they could make to what is planned and considered options as wide ranging as reinstating the original plans to halting the scheme altogether.

It’s likely that budgets wouldn’t extend to the former, and the financial and legal implications of the latter were too risky. Instead the chosen option is to revisit the arts centre component while continuing with the residential and commercial aspects of the scheme via Cityheart.

The council’s deputy leader and executive member for neighbourhoods, Cllr Mione Goldspink, said: “The arts element of the Old River Lane project has been the subject of considerable debate among local residents, making it the most contentious aspect of the scheme. In light of this we believe it is crucial to prioritise the voices of the community ... While I personally would have preferred a more extensive approach, particularly in preserving the United Reformed Church Hall, the legal and financial consequences for the town of starting over again would have been too great.” l See council leader Ben Crystall’s article on page 11. to be closed immediately.

The chief executive officer of Empire Cinemas, Justin Ribbons, said the enforced closure of the chain for protracted periods during 2020 and 2021 during the covid pandemic and a failure of attendance levels to return to pre-pandemic levels afterwards had made the operating environment extremely challenging. He said refunds for tickets bought online and those bought at the box office using a debit, credit or gift card would be processed automatically.

Cut-price parking plan for workers

Local business employees working in Bishop’s Stortford are to be offered reduced price daily parking in the town’s newest car park, under a plan put forward to East Herts Council by Bishop’s Stortford BID. The BID has suggested that 100 town centre workers could be given permits enabling them to park at Northgate End for £3.50 a day instead of £5.20, thereby saving them £1.70 a day. The scheme could be launched in September.

Work began in July at Bishop’s Stortford’s Jackson Square shopping centre that will eventually herald the arrival of TK Maxx in the town. The centre remains open although hoardings have been erected throughout the mall, a number of businesses have been relocated and the Bridge Street entrance has been closed. When work is completed there will be a replacement for the Bridge Street entrance, new units and an improved public realm.