A FRESH drive to see plans for a cinema in Cirencester finally come to fruition has been approved by Cotswold District Council.

At a meeting of CDC's cabinet last Thursday, councillors approved a raft of proposals as part of its updated corporate strategy for 2016-19.

Among them was a commitment to work with Wildmoor Properties, the developer behind the plans for a cinema complex in Brewery Court, to push the scheme forward after it stalled when delays in construction work prompted the chain set to run the venue to back out.

Other proposals agreed included:

  • Submitting the Local Plan housing blueprint for the Cotswolds to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) by this summer
  • Finding a solution to Cirencester’s car parking needs, which includes plans for multi-storey at the Waterloo
  • Delivering savings of £1.84million a year by 2020
  • Completing flood alleviation work
  • Participating in Gloucestershire County Council’s Fastershire initiative to roll-out high speed broadband to all parts of the district
  • Creating a minimum of 150 new affordable homes.

Members also approved a Cotswold Community Defibrillator Project which will see £2,000 allocated to each councillor for publicly accessible defibrillators in their wards.

This involves working with South West Ambulance Service to identify locations for  defibrillators.

Council leader Cllr Lynden Stowe said there was a time when the effectiveness of defibrillators was in doubt but that now “we know they have saved lives, we know that it is the right thing for the communities to do”.

Cllr Stowe added that he would be writing to the DCLG to ask the government to consider imposing a condition which states that defibrillators must be installed at developments with more than 20 households.