Council to host second public consultation event for Bognor Regis theatre's renovation

The event is set to take place at the Alexandra Theatre, on Belmont Street, from 1pm to 5.30pm on June 16. It will showcase the finalised plans for the theatre, ahead of the submission of a planning application to Arun District Council later this year.

It follows on from a previous event held back in March, during which members of the public got their first glimpse of the plans for the theatre, which is due to benefit from a £15 million facelift, courtesy of the Levelling Up Fund.

The plans, which involve increasing overall seating to 386 seats, improving sightlines and legroom, and using part of the foyer as a pop-up display space, were largely well-received by residents back in March, and this month’s event will give members of the public a similar opportunity to consult members of the design team.

Neil Taylor, Arun District Council Regeneration Lead, said: “We are grateful for all of the feedback received during our first community consultation event and are pleased to share our evolved proposals with the local community. We are committed to working together with all stakeholders across the town to deliver a rejuvenated theatre as part of our plan for the wider Regis Centre and are delighted that we are now in a position to submit a planning application.”

Further details of the plans will be made available to the public from Friday, June 16 at: www/regisrejuvenation.co.uk

Current plans for The Regis Centre are deeply tied to plans for a 116-room Premier Inn Hotel on Bognor Regis seafront. The owners of the hotel chain, Whitbread PLC, once owned a longlease on the theatre site. In order to lift the lease and clear the way for Levelling Up fund improvements, Arun District Council agreed to a land-swap deal with the company. This, alongside a £750,000 buyout, gave Whitbread permission to build the Premier Inn hotel on prime seafront land just around the corner from the Grade II listed town hall, to a range of responses from residents.

To find out more about the plans, contact community representatives DevComms on 0800 080 3178.

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Detailed plans for the 'rejuvenation' of Bognor's Alexandra Theatre revealed as consultation begins