Constructing a cinema complex in Queanbeyan is no longer a priority project, Metro Cinemas chief executive John O’Neill said after a motion to move forward with a Memorandum of Understanding with the operator was voted down for the second time.
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"It’s zero priority now. We will be pursuing other projects," he said.
"We have spent five years on this and have put an attractive deal on the table. If they [the council] want to come back with a proposal that we feel is acceptable we will move forward with them. But there are no more hoops we are jumping through and no more work we are doing on this project."
In June, the majority of councillors made up of Sue Whelan, Jamie Cregan, Judith Burfoot, Brian Brown, Kenrick Winchester and Vic Trajanoski rejected the proposal for the multimillion-dollar seven-screen cinema to be built at the former Queanbeyan Nursery site, on the grounds they were yet to see key financial data from the proposed operator, including a business plan and recent financial statements.
The blocks established in June remained firm as heated debate whirred through the chambers at the July ordinary meeting of council.
A motion, co-authored by councillors Cregan, Whelan and Winchester, was voted through to form an advisory committee to oversee an independent feasibility study for a cinema in Queanbeyan by suitably qualified experts.
However, deputy mayor Peter Bray and councillor Toni McLennan, who have consistently supported establishing an MOU with a cinema operator, foreshadowed a rescission motion they intend to submit to next month’s meeting.
Cr Cregan said the move was a "silly political ploy" that wouldn’t be supported by the council’s majority in August, but meanwhile it prevented any action being taken by the advisory committee to progress plans for a cinema in the town.
