PLANS to create a permanent wartime memorial at a bombed out cinema in Hull have been dealt a blow after an application to restore the pub next door was submitted by the owners.
The National Civilian Second World War Memorial Trust has been given planning permission to turn the dilapidated National Picture Theatre in Beverley Road into a memorial site with an education centre.
But owner Reid Park Properties has dug its heels in and has only reduced its £250,000 evaluation to £215,000. The trust is only offering £150,000.
The owner is now hoping to renovate the Swan pub next door with a view to letting it out and has submitted a planning application.
But the pub is a key part of the trust's plans.
Trust secretary Alan Canvess said: "We know the owner has been looking to do something with the Swan Inn and he is entitled to.
"The trust has a meeting on Thursday and we will discuss the application then.
"But he is proposing to use part of the National Picture Theatre for the car park.
"I have asked the planning officer whether the National Picture Theatre site should therefore be included in the application.
"If this is the case, the owner would also need listed building consent. We want the planning officer to make amendments to the application before we decide whether to object."
The trust had hoped to buy the pub in the future to add to the attraction.
He said: "The pub would require a separate application but we would like to turn it into a 1940s-style venue.
"That would reflect the fact that people came to the pub as part of their night out to the theatre."
Hull City Council is in the process of trying to acquire the former National Picture Theatre through a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).
The privately owned ruin in Beverley Road is thought to be one of the last surviving bomb-damaged Blitz buildings in the country.
It took a direct hit from a German bomb during a raid in 1941.
The trust has been campaigning to turn the site into a visitor centre.
It has been given planning permission to turn the dilapidated theatre into the memorial site, while the owner has also been given permission to turn the building into apartments and a restaurant.
A public inquiry into the restaurant plans, due to take place earlier this year, was ditched when Reid Park Properties pulled the plug on the scheme.
Money is being set aside from the council's capital budget for the CPO to be issued on the property.
It is part of a £1.2m pot set aside to tackle derelict buildings and eyesores on the major roads in and out of Hull.
A spokesman for Hull City Council said: "The latest application will go to committee as per the normal planning process in due course.
"As yet, no agreement has been reached between the council and the owners of the National Picture Theatre on a sale price."
