Councillors are set to agree plans to fund a £5million cinema and retail development in Bargoed town centre.
Members on Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet will be recommended next Tuesday to agree to the authority building a cinema for lease to a national operator.
Restaurants and cafés would also form part of the scheme.
Bids will be invited for tenancies of the two units with the council borrowing up to £5m to fund the development.
Councillor Ron Davies, cabinet member for regeneration, said: “We are delighted to announce these ambitious plans to fund a new cinema for Bargoed.
“These proposals clearly demonstrate our commitment to regenerating Bargoed, but the development will also serve the whole county borough as we do not currently have a multiplex cinema within this area.
“This is a huge vote of confidence for the future of the town and will help transform the fortunes of this strategic retail destination. Things are definitely looking up for Bargoed and I’m sure the residents and retailers will join us in welcoming these fantastic plans.”
The council has decided to build the cinema itself on the Bargoed retail plateau site and lease it to a national cinema chain after advice from commercial property experts.
The cinema is the second phase of the development, with supermarket Morrisons due to open as part of phase one.
Work on the Morrisons development is due to start soon with planned completion in Autumn 2013.
Cllr Davies added: “Phase two is proceeding because of the vision and commitment of members and officers alike. The key decision is for the council to proceed to commission the work, itself, rather than use consultants as was previously proposed. We shall save some £600,000 in fees and this together with proposed rental income will make the development economically feasible.
“Had we not proceeded this way it is difficult to see how under the present economic circumstances this development could have gone ahead.”
A special meeting of the council’s cabinet will take place on Tuesday January 31 where cabinet members will be asked to recommend the proposal.
A meeting of Full Council later that same evening will be held for a final decision.
The report recommends that the council should procure the development of the cinema and associated retail units directly and councillors give authority to prudentially borrow up to £5 million to fund this proposal.
If agreed the council would then invite cinema and A3 companies to submit bids for the tenancies of the proposed units.
Where`s the new Caerphilly cinema?
It would be nice if Caerffili enjoyed some of the council's largesse. We could do with a cinema, an ideal site would have been Penrhos. What did we get? More houses.
People in the Caerphilly area already have a cinema – it's in nearby Nantgarw. At the moment, people in Bargoed have to travel miles to get to a cinema.
From Blackwood to risca we have no facilities. Blackwood should have a cinema and a bowling alley.