Derbyshire cinema plan hit with delays and set to cost £400,000 more than planned

Two weeks ago, Derbyshire Dales District Council approved its own plans to turn Matlock Market Hall into a two-screen cinema and restaurant.

At the time, the cost of the project had been capped at £800,820 with a further £48,000 as a contingency for any unpredicted costs.

However, now council officials are asking for a further £380,000, increasing the cost of the scheme by 45 per cent to more than £1.2 million.

Officials say the sharp increase in cost is as a result of a surge in the price of building supplies due to pandemic pressures and Brexit.

They write that “the scheme has also encountered challenges, particularly with regard to increasing costs and volatility within the construction industry”.

A report from officers also details that the now forecast opening date for the venue has been delayed by a further year – to summer 2023 – a year and a half from the initial expected date of Christmas 2021.

It says there has been a “significant increase in construction costs over the past 14 months and that it was an “ongoing volatile situation with regard to costs and resources within the construction industry following Brexit and the Covid pandemic, and materials shortages in some areas have contributed to significant cost increases”.

An updated business case for the project has shown that the return on investment of the scheme has dropped significantly as a result of the surging costs.

In November 2020, it had been forecast that the scheme would bring in £104.50 for every pound of public money put into the project.

However, this forecast has now dropped to £11.60 being brought in for every pound of public money injected into the scheme – around a tenth of the previous return.

The scheme is due to create 17.8 new full-time jobs and generate further employment boosts in the town.

However, the cost of each job created by the scheme had been £2,395 in November 2020 and has now increased to £22,408 for every new job.

The company which will operate the cinema, which has not yet been publicly named, has said it will increase its proposed investment of the venue’s fit-out to 50 per cent of the overall fee. It also proposes raising its starting rent for the facility by 50 per cent.

Officers write that the prospects of the proposed cinema and restaurant are still strong and that the company which would run them has maintained its four existing cinemas elsewhere while other firms have “failed to survive”.

They say: “Whilst acknowledging the significant increase in schemes costs, impacted by the Covid pandemic and Brexit, the former Market Hall site remains a key development opportunity for the district council and potential driver for economic regeneration within Matlock town centre.

“The proposed cinema operator currently remains committed to Matlock.”

It says the scheme will generate 37,704 in additional footfall in the town, £4.64 million in extra economic benefit over 10 years and £706,000 in extra town centre spend each year.

At a Derbyshire Dales council meeting on Wednesday night, the authority debated plans to bid for money from the Government’s Levelling-Up Fund.

This would be to secure funds for Matlock and for a variety of plans in Ashbourne.

Cllr Garry Purdy, leader of the authority, said: “We have got an opportunity now to develop the western gateway into Matlock. We, the Conservative Group, really want to see this cinema project get over the line and we fully back it.

“Hopefully get it over the line with our monies and expand on it with money from the Levelling-Up Fund.

“This is a lottery and not guaranteed monies and we will have to hope and pray.”

He confirmed it was “not a competition” between Matlock and Ashbourne for funding.

Cllr Sue Bull said it was an opportunity to regenerate the district’s “dilapidated town centres”.

Cllr Mike Ratcliffe questioned the plan to spend £300,000 on consultants who are to be directed to manage the bids for funding.

He said that, from his experience, this was the largest amount the authority will have spent on consultants.

The Matlock Market Hall scheme would include a cinema with a capacity for 67 people in one screen and 89 in the second screen, while the restaurant would have room for 50 covers.

Designs approved by the council show the restaurant and café being called “Vertigo Café” and the cinema being called “Dales Matlock Cinema”, however the exact details are to be worked out by the private operator of the businesses.

MORE: https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/people/exciting-new-designs-for-matlock-cinema-released-3480859