New cinema set for Chipping Norton High Street

In December, an application for the cinema in Chipping Norton’s High Street was withdrawn due to highway and heritage concerns.

Now though, West Oxfordshire District Council has given the green light for a two-screen cinema, consisting of 46 and 44 seats, run by The Living Room Cinema.

Above those screens will be five flats on the first and second floor, described as ‘Airbnb style apartment suites’.

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The rear extension will be ‘remodelled’ to create five residential apartments, with the construction of a new block seeing a further three flats.

There will also be a 14-space car park on site.

A planning statement reads that compared to the previous application, ‘the proposal is the same in substance, except that eight of the 13 serviced apartments are now proposed as residential units’.

The statement adds that concerns about pedestrian safety have been addressed with the ‘provision of additional footway width at the site frontage, through setting the shop front further back’.

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In a consultee comment, Chipping Norton Town Council reported it supports the application.

The comment read: “We are very pleased that the developer and operator want to invest in our market town in these difficult times.

“This building, having sat empty for a prolonged period, and located at the entrance to the town centre, has given a poor impression of the town for years, and this new project will bring much-needed revitalisation.

“New ventures such as these will give residents from the area added reason to come to Chipping Norton and spend their money in the town, rather than in cinemas, pubs and restaurants further afield.

“We are pleased too that the theatre and cinema are working together over the long-term.”

The cinema will be located at the former Harper’s hardware store, with 29 High Street being a Grade II listed building, while 30 High Street is a locally listed one.

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It is proposed that the cinema will show four films per day, with three during off-peak periods.

The anticipated start time for films are 12pm, between 2.30pm and 3pm, 5.30pm to 6pm, and 8.30pm.

The average occupancy level per screening is expected to be between 30 and 35 per cent in the week, with levels between 60 and 70 per cent for evening and weekend films.

The planning statement for the plans read: “The proposal is to create a high-quality development containing a cinema, and residential and serviced apartments that would have significant benefits for the local community and economy.

“These benefits include restoring and bringing back into active use an important heritage asset, enhancing the vitality of the town centre, creating a new leisure facility and providing tourist accommodation.

“The redevelopment of this site will also serve as a shining example across the country and the nation of how a defunct high street retail property can be creatively rejuvenated, especially at a time of critical need for a post-Covid recovery.”