Cinema club faces uncertain future as criticism grows over Wirral Council leisure centre and library closure plans

Jan 7 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

A SPECIALISED music business and a long-established cinema club in Birkenhead say they are facing an uncertain future as a result of the council’s strategic asset review.

Keith Bennion, who runs KGB Musical Instruments at Pacific Road Arts Centre - which makes, repairs and customises guitars - has written to councillors and MPs to say his business would be “heavily and adversely affected”.

Birkenhead Library Cinema Club is in its 37th season at the Town Hall and has gathered a significant following for showing films unlikely to be screened at multiplex cinemas.

Club secretary John Baxter said: “With the town hall’s future now in doubt, we don’t know what the future will be for the cinema club.

“The town hall is a grade I-listed building, but if it’s taken over by a private organisation, we could end up being charged for the use of the rooms, and that could well be prohibitive.

“At the moment, we just about break even.

“It’s a real shame, because there is nowhere else like this on this side of Wirral and we have a loyal core membership.”

Wirral Council has said it faces mounting bills for a backlog of repairs on its estate of ageing libraries, leisure centres and museums – including Wirral Museum – and they are too expensive to heat and maintain.

In their place, the council has said it wants to invest £20m over four years to develop a network of “state-of-the-art multi-purpose complexes”.

The proposal for Pacific Road would see arts events moved to the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton.

In his letter to the council formally objecting to the plans, Keith Bennion, who has run KGB for over 20 years, said: “In the current economic climate it would be a real struggle for me to relocate and maintain this business.”