AN 11-screen Empire Cinema and an 80-room Travelodge hotel will be at the centre of a £50million development in Southend, which is set to start next year.

Cambridge-based Turnstone Estates is working in partnership with Southend Council to develop the Seaway car park off Lucy Road.

Turnstone’s Director Tim Deacon has confirmed a planning application will soon be submitted after the firm secured the cinema and hotel chains to kick-start the development, which will rival Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park.

The 1,370-seat cinema will have a large format Impact Screen. Along with the Travelodge Hotel, there will be ten restaurants and cafes, including a Frankie and Benny’s and a Chicquito, two indoor leisure units, a public square and a multi-story car park.

Mr Deacon said: “We have secured both Empire Cinemas and Travelodge for the scheme which means we can finalise our detailed design and progress to a planning application. We want to have an application in by the summer and start building next year, opening hopefully in late 2019 or early 2020.

“The layouts are very advanced and we’ve done all the survey work we needed to do for the planning authority.

“We have Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito and have really good interest from others who want to be in the town centre and seafront. Southend needs a proper, dedicated family leisure scheme.”

Justin Ribbons, chief executive of Empire Cinemas, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering Turnstone to bring this multiplex cinema to the heart of Southend and we look forward to entertaining local film fans for many years to come.”

The announcement puts the Seaway development ahead of another big retail and leisure complex planned by Southend United Football Club at Fossetts farm.

An application for a new stadium along with flats and restaurants also includes a multiplex cinema but it is unclear whether an operator has yet signed a deal with the club or whether the town could support three cinemas, including the Odeon in the High Street.

Mr Deacon said the Fossetts development could potentially harm Southend High Street.

He said: “I think Fossetts has got a long, long way to run. It’s a scheme which could cause immense harm on the town centre. It’s a scheme which has no cinema tenant attached to it. It was approved, but it’s a scheme which has been hanging around a long time with no credible delivery.

“If they were to start building it I think a lot of the retailers in the High Street would move out there and that is exactly what the planning policy seeks to stop.

“It’s probably the most potentially harmful planning application in the South East in terms of impact on the High Street.”

The spokeswoman for Southend United, Mary Power of Power Haus, said: “Our application deals with town centre impact. Essentially what our retail leisure assessment says is there’s no marked impact on the town centre.

“When we submitted our application the town could support another cinema. The Seaway development has its own drawbacks in terms of the loss of car parking.

  • Council welcomes scheme

SOUTHEND Council has welcomed the announcement of a cinema operator for the Seaway leisure complex.

A council spokesman said: “We have been working with Turnstone Estates on this scheme for a number of years and so we are pleased to see the progress being made.

“The announcement that an anchor tenant has been secured is good news and highlights private sector confidence in the plans and Southend as an investment location.”

The spokesman added: “As with all large planning applications, there will be a further period of public consultation once an application has been received and validated, during which time members of the public can make their views known.

“This will be considered by members of the development control committee, who ultimately determine any large application like this.”

Jonathan Garston, Milton Ward councillor, also welcomed the scheme.

Mr Garston said it would be a boost for the area’s economy and would help prevent shoppers from going out of town to spend their cash.

He said: “This particular scheme has taken about four years altogether.

“Our view has always been the same in that we support the scheme and think it will help regenerate the area.

“We think it will stop residents going out of town to shop and we very much welcome it.”

Mr Garston added: “We want to make sure there is enough parking in that area and that residents are fully consulted.

“As long as residents’ concerns are listened to it should be a good thing for us.”