Abingdon Town Council update on lease with Abbey Cinema

Abingdon Town Council has been negotiating with the Abbey Cinema regarding a new lease on the Abbey Hall for almost three years.

The current lease terminates on 30 November 2022 and the council has been pressing for some time to conclude negotiations.

Following a reminder earlier this month that the lease was coming to an end, the Abbey Cinema submitted a proposal for a new lease on 10 August 2022.  In some key areas this proposal is substantially different from the current lease.  The Council meeting on Thursday 25 August 2022 was called to respond to the Abbey Cinema’s proposals.

The Mayor, Cllr Andy Foulsham, stated that “we were surprised and disappointed that the cinema decided to start negotiating in public.  We were very pleased to hear from local residents about how they value and use the cinema and we were able to reassure everyone that the Council recognises the importance of the cinema and has worked over many years to ensure that it continues to be a successful part of the town.

“At the meeting the Council, with its advisors, took three hours to go through the Abbey Cinema’s lease proposals clause by clause.  We concluded that there was a lot of common ground between their proposals and our original ones and so have instructed our representative to go back to them to resolve the remaining issues, which will hopefully lead to a lease being agreed that will secure the long-term future of the cinema in Abingdon.”