Gal-axe-y quest! It’s RIP to ugly cinema

A DECREPIT cinema can be bulldozed along with a former nightclub after Erewash councillors voted through plans to build smart new homes and commercial units in Long Eaton. The decision clears the way for 16 flats, four townhouses and three business premises on the prominent Derby Road site – in a project funded by the government. The demolition of the crumbling Galaxy picture house is part of Long Eaton’s £25million “Town Deal” – which is seeing investment pour in after the borough council helped clinch the levelling-up funding.

The “eyesore” cinema closed more than a decade ago. The council launched a compulsory purchase order after it fell into increasing disrepair. Planners admitted demolition was “regrettable” but stressed: “No proposals for re-use have come forward in ten years. It does not lend itself to a conversion to an alternative use. “Given the apparent lack of developer interest and limitations of the former cinema for its reuse and the poor current appearance of the building, the loss of the building is considered acceptable.”

The development will also see the former Stage One nightclub plus a disused shop unit demolished – along with a garage at the rear of the site on Oxford Street. This street is where four town houses will be built. The estimated cost for the entire project, which will include 28 parking spaces accessed from Oxford Street, is at least £5million. It got approval at a meeting of the council’s planning committee. Also given the green light were changes to plans for what is known as the Stable Block – a building opposite the cinema. It is next door to Long Eaton Town Hall. As part of the Town Deal it is being converted into a swish business hub.

Richard Ledger, who is chairman of the Long Eaton Town Deal Board, said the latest moves follow the unveiling of an artist’s impression of a spectacular new canal bridge that will link Long Eaton to its award-winning West Park. The local businessman, who studied physics with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge, said:  “This all points the way to how Long Eaton is being reinvigorated and transformed under the Town Deal – becoming an increasingly vibrant place to live and work. Thanks also go to the people of Long Eaton and to businesses there for backing the campaign to unleash the town’s potential.”

The meeting of the planning committee also gave approval to a field of solar panels at Brunswood Farm in Dale Abbey and a new barn north west of Dalemoor Farm in Stanton by Dale. Two oak trees near the St Peter’s Park sports pavilion in Little Eaton were granted preservation orders. An application to demolish an agricultural building so a new two-bed dwelling can be built at Knoll Side Farm in Breadsall was refused.