New plans to be developed for Lionfields site
News release issued:
New uses for the site where the Glades Leisure Centre in Kidderminster once stood are to be explored by Wyre Forest District Council.
Plans for a feasibility study into what could be built on the site are being discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet next week (Thursday 30 June).
The council had hoped to bring a multiplex cinema and leisure hub to the site, which is on one of the parcels of land known as Lionfields. A conditional agreement was signed with a developer in October 2019. Due to the pandemic the developer’s negotiations with the cinema operator did not restart until 2022. Market conditions have changed, and construction costs have increased considerably. The latest financial proposals put forward by the developer are not financially viable, and the developer had not submitted a planning application by the deadline in late April, which had been extended. The developer has not met the revised timescale in the development agreement. The council does not believe that a further extension to the deadline would achieve the desired outcomes and the agreement is being terminated.
Councillor Helen Dyke, Leader of Wyre Forest District Council and Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Planning and Localism said:
“So much has changed over the last two years or more. What looked achievable and deliverable is no longer commercially feasible despite our best efforts to bring it forward. We are now looking at exploring alternative development opportunities for the former Glades site that meet the needs of future residents and businesses. They also need to be affordable and deliverable in these tough market conditions. All the options need to be looked at to see if we can address the significant financial and commercial challenges, but unfortunately a cinema development at this site is clearly not going to be deliverable. We expect to have proposals to share with the community by the end of this financial year.”