BETWEEN 65 and 85 jobs could be created if plans for a cinema complex in the heart of Haverfordwest get the go-ahead.

Fairacre, the firm hoping to transform the town centre with a new multiplex and restaurants, fleshed out its plans at a meeting at the Picton Centre on Monday (October 17).

It hopes to submit a planning application next month and – if successful – says work could start at the end of next year, with a potential opening date of late 2018.

Fairacre said the cinema could attract 177,000 visits to Haverfordwest per year, and an additional 35,000 visits from tourists.

The company, which owns the Riverside Shopping Centre and recently acquired the Wilko building, says it is in talks with two cinema operators.

Once a cinema brand is on board, the next stage would be to attract restaurant operators to the development.

Fairacre’s ambition for the project is to boost footfall into the town, and create an “evening economy” that it says the town currently lacks.

“Instead of competing with existing town centre businesses, we want to add something new,” the firm said.

Parking concerns

While the response was generally in favour of the development, concerns about the impact on parking were raised.

The project would see 47 spaces lost from the current Wilko car park, and neighbouring availability – such as the multi-storey car park – is seen as inadequate by many.

Darren Thomas, Head of Highways and Construction at Pembrokeshire County Council, said the authority has earmarked between £1.2m and £1.5m to refurbish the multi-storey car park, with plans to improve ramp width, bay sizes and lighting.

It is hoped the work would be finished by March 2018, to fit in with the transformation of the new town centre library at the old Riverside Market.

Pressed on whether this work was reliant on a cinema coming to the town centre, Mr Thomas said all work was dependent on funding, and the amount and extent of work was linked to the development.

But, he said, care would be taken to ensure that parking at the multi-storey, at Wilko, and at Hole in the Wall was not lost all at once.

County council chief executive Ian Westley said there was no “magic wand or bottomless pit of cash” but that everyone in Haverfordwest owed it to each other to work together to bring about improvements that were “long overdue”.

“You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs,” he said, adding that Pembrokeshire had previously suffered from a fear of “cracking some eggs”.

“We need to keep talking and working together so we can get one of these significant projects off the ground,” he said.

Conygar plans

Last week, development firm Conygar said it is still pursuing plans to bring a multi-screen cinema to its Slade Lane site, on the outskirts of Haverfordwest.

A spokesman said Conygar was in “advanced negotiations” with two cinema companies, and had the finances in place to proceed with its project, pending approval from the county council.

A public exhibition will take place at the Mariners’ Hotel in Haverfordwest, on November 4 and 5, where locals can meet with Conygar representatives, and voice their opinions.

The pre-application consultation for the proposed town centre cinema runs until 4 November.