Care home planned for site of former cinema

The Clifton Cinema opened in 1937

Plans have been submitted to turn the site of a former cinema into a 64-bed residential care home.

The Clifton Cinema in Wellington, Shropshire, was knocked down in 2023 after lying empty for 11 years.

A community group had tried to save the building before it was sold to an investor in 2015.

Claremont Planning Consultancy, on behalf of Morro Partnerships Limited, has submitted a planning application to transform the land on Bridge Road into a four-storey building.

The cinema closed in 1989 and was used as a furniture store until Dunelm relocated to Telford town centre in 2012.

The Save the Clifton group had planned to re-open the site as an arts venue, funding it by selling community shares, but failed to purchase or lease the building.

The group later acquired a lease on the town's former HSBC building, which opened as the Wellington Orbit in 2019.

Earlier this year the group took ownership of the building after Telford and Wrekin Council bought it using money from a government grant.

'High quality of design'

Documents submitted to Telford and Wrekin Council have outlined development plans, which included 58 single accommodation units, six double accommodation units, 25 parking spaces and a landscaped courtyard.

Agent Eleanor Lovett, from Claremont Planning, said the scheme had been "sympathetically designed" to complement the surrounding residential and commercial areas.

The plans will be considered by the council.