28 January - Mission Impossible
News
of the disaster movie developing in Sidcup continues to trickle in, the burning
question being to what extent Bexley residents are having to pay the price of
continued admission and you can be absolutely sure that they are. Council lips may
be sealed but the truth will eventually get out.
Lewisham Council let its cinema debts climb to £650,000 before pulling the plug and it
remains to be seen how deep Bexley is prepared to dig in an attempt to save faces and
hide their lack of business expertise.
Why am I so sure? Because my Freedom of Information question “Is Bexley Council
party to any agreement to underwrite funds which may have been provided to The
Really Local Group to ensure its presence in Sidcup and if so what are the
limits of any such guarantee?” has been well and truly dodged.
In less than half the time allowed for FOIs the Head of Economic Development came back with…
The cinema has already become a much-loved
feature of the town and has had a strong impact on the local economy creating
new jobs, stimulating investment and a real sense of vibrancy. The building
itself, with a new library and flats, has already won many awards including a
prestigious RIBA Pineapple Award in recognition of its outstanding design and
its success in bringing the community back to the High Street and the regional
LABC (Local Authority Building Control) Building Excellence award for the ‘Best
public or community building’. In the last week came further news that the site
has been nominated for the 2025 Civic Trust Awards final and is one of 39
selected from over 300 applicants. This is amazing news and a fabulous
endorsement by highly experienced and well respected, independent external
assessors. The Council will now move quickly to appoint a new operator for the
longer term and will update further as soon as possible. Meanwhile the library
will continue to operate on its usual basis.
My response will be along the lines of “Are you going to answer the question or
would you prefer me to go to the ICO straight away?” Does Mr. Smith really think
his irrelevant clap-trap will help him hide the truth for ever?
Never has a cinema name been more appropriate.
My half baked
analysis of The StoryTeller’s profit or loss account, half baked because I
kept the staff costs very low and ticket sales on the high side (†) and more
importantly assumed they lived rent free, suggested that at best The StoryTeller might break even.
Companies House says the loss in Sidcup was £388,000 with both Ealing and Reading hitting the two million mark.
Inside Croydon
informs us that there is another new cinema in Sutton and
their Council invested a million and the Government £1·42 million. The Really
Local Group came up with only £100,000.
Just as in Sidcup the Sutton cinema remains open.
Is Bexley going to take us into the world of make believe by claiming that it alone had the good sense to not put
up the money or undertake guarantees for the StoryTeller? If it had I would have
had an honest reply to my FOI instead of no answer at all. Taxpayers put at risk again.
A film enthusiast who has been questioning the British Film Institute about
the funds allocated to the new local cinemas and commenting publicly on the
issue estimates that Sidcup is losing up to £5,000 a week and the only
source of the money that keeps the cinema doors open and its screens bright
is residents’ deep pockets.
He must be right, mustn’t he?
† Average UK cinema attendance is typically 15 to
20% of capacity according to the Office of Independent Cinema and the Council of Europe. My 1,000 attendances a week estimate
for Sidcup may be optimistic. London’s biggest independent cinema in Leicester
Square achieves around 5,000 attendees a week according to today’s Daily Telegraph.
Inside Croydon
Greenwich Wire
This is London