There was a special Town Council Meeting this evening to consider the lease of the Abbey Cinema, which, if not renewed within 25 working days, would lead to the closure of the cinema.
Given the slow progress in negotiations over recent months, this might have seemed a Mission Impossible before the meeting.
This is the first time a Town Council meeting has been held in St Nicolas Church. Many townspeople were expected to support the cinema, so the venue was moved from the Old Magistrates Court to the church.
The new Town Council faced the audience and listened to questions and statements from the audience for about 25 minutes. Ian Wiper, the cinema owner, began by saying that since starting the cinema in 2018, it has been given three short-term leases, and they need a long-term lease to allow investment in the building and the cinema to continue. Since a meeting in August 2022, little progress has been made in negotiations, and since February 2023, the Town Council lawyer has been waiting for instructions.
A number of groups who used the cinema then stood up to support the cinema. They included ATOM, The Arts Society Abingdon with 350 members, and The Abingdon Film Club (which uses the Roysse Room).
One person said that the cinema was a big draw to the town centre and without it, more people would go to Oxford and Didcot. Another person said that The Guildhall had been empty before the cinema arrived and could be empty again without a cinema.
Councillor Jim Halliday responded for the Town Council, saying they all wanted the cinema to continue. But, as a council, they needed to be careful entering into a long-term lease for a community asset when negotiating with a commercial organisation. He mentioned the Upper Reaches as an example of a long-term lease that ended badly. He said that after the public meeting, the council would discuss a Guildhall Property Report in a confidential session. The Guildhall needed big investment for energy efficiency requirements as a public building and possibly needed a new roof, which would be expensive.
Councillor Halliday said he would propose that a team of councillors with knowledge of the cinema meet the cinema owners on Friday, having agreed to the property report. His proposal was applauded. An agreement could still be possible in time.
The meeting was well managed by the new Mayor, Councillor Gwyneth Lewis, and the audience left at that point, happier than they had come in.
There was then a matter of council business. The Mayor then proposed that councillors attend main council and committee meetings in person from now on. Since Covid, there have been some hybrid meetings with councillors attending virtually. After some discussion, this was agreed.
The council then went into the confidential session to discuss the property report.
