Thursday, March 4, 2010

Letters in the Hunts Post 03/03/10


Late night count irrelevant - Cllr Downes, leader of the Liberal Democrats on HDC, attacks our MP over his insistence of having an overnight count. Whilst Cllr Downes correctly points out the difference in Conservative policies, he is wrong over the 4 hours. The amendment is for the count to start within 4 hours not the completion of the count by 4 hours. I just feel this amendment has much to do with Djanogly getting back to his home in London.

They forgot us - Joy Winters carries on the politics of envy with a letter which says Huntingdon has forgotten about St Neots. Joy compares the out of town Cineworld in Huntingdon, which back in 1998 got planning permission, and HDC not giving away land in St Neots for a cinema. That is the problem. HDC is not a charity. Cineworld was built on a commercial basis. All HDC did was give planning permission. In the case of St Neots there is no reason why a cinema operator cannot build a cinema. The only reason why they don't is a cinema isn't commercially viable.

The politics of envy carries on with St Neots is the largest Town in Cambridgeshire. This is true. What is missed is the conurbation surrounding Huntingdon is far larger than St Neots.

Her head in the sand attitude continues with the privately run clinic. I do want a clinic to be in competition with all the other privately run clinics. GPs practises are actually private contractors within the NHS. Labour has been privatising the NHS since 1997. Where has Joy been?

3 comments:

Past Member said...

Well strictly speaking all HDC did was to block every attempt by St Neots to build a cinema, and then grant planning permission on industrial land in Huntingdon owned by a senior member of the ruling elite.

Dave said...

The original planning application for the Eat n' Bowl included a 2 screen cinema. This was back in 1993. So there is land with planning permission for a cinema. The reality is St Neots could have had a cinema anytime in the last 17 years. When Open Air swimming pool was knocked down the Town Council/Swimming Pool Trust could have sold this land to a cinema operator.

It is not HDC blocking this. The block is the fact a cinema is not commercially viable in St Neots.

Planning permission can be found here.

Anonymous said...

Cinemas cost a vast amount of money to set up, for a 9 screen cinema it can cost in excess of 6m just to fit it our, thats before building costs, Haverhill CIneowlrd is a case in point, it is very little used and very quite 99% of the time, and with Huntingdon, BSE and Cambridge having a cineworld, iwth a VUE and artshouse also in Cambridge, along with many other cinemas in and around teh area, St Neots cant succeed, as there woul dbe too much competition