Brentwood's Baytree Centre in line for £23m cinema revamp

A four-screen cinema has been proposed to anchor the new Baytree Centre development

Plans to regenerate a town centre with a new cinema, shopping centre and restaurants have been agreed.

Brentwood Borough Council has granted planning permission for the £23m scheme to develop the Baytree Centre.

Conservative committee vice chairman Keith Barber said it was a chance to emulate the success of the Bond Street development in nearby Chelmsford.

The project developer was told construction must start within three years.

"This planning application is Brentwood's Bond Street - it's a way of attracting people back into the town centre," said Mr Barber.

"Give them a reason to go there rather than just food, shop or alcohol - which has been the case for quite some time frankly."

Conservative Keith Barber criticised the drinking culture currently offered in Brentwood High Street

The project, put together by the council's development company Seven Arches Investment Ltd, proposes partially demolishing the existing centre and building a four-screen cinema.

Seven new homes would also be built in the adjacent South Street and put on the market.

'Hindered'

Residents objected online - according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service - about how access directly from the High Street to Brentwood Library would be cut off.

Liberal Democrat Phil Mynott, the only councillor to object at the meeting on Tuesday, said the alteration for the library was "definitely not an improvement".

The council bought the Baytree Centre for £10.8m in 2021 but the local authority said its success was "hindered by the poor selection of dated and unfit for purpose retail units".

Planning permission was previously granted for a cinema development in nearby William Hunter Way - as long ago as 2007 - but the council has said the location is more challenging.