SELBY’S council chief says he wants to see more entertainment opportunities – including a cinema – opened up in the town after securing four more years in power.
The Conservatives maintained control of Selby District Council at last week’s local elections, losing only one seat to ensure they filled 29 of the authority’s 41.
Council leader Mark Crane said that, as well as protecting frontline services in the face of likely further spending cuts, his party aimed to boost Selby’s leisure and social facilities with attracting a cinema chain being among the priorities.
Improvements to town centres in Selby and Tadcaster – where the authority is embroiled in a long-running wrangle with Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery over the redevelopment of its central car park – are also high on the list following last week’s election victory.
Coun Crane said: “One thing I want to see is an increase in entertainment options for people in Selby.
“We will try again to get a cinema chain moving into the town and will continue to work with large restaurant chains to get them into Selby.
“I believe our night-time offer has improved and a lot of work has been done in the town centre over the last few years, but it could still be better and there is certainly more to be done.
“It would be great to see a resolution to the Tadcaster car park issue, as well as other issues surrounding that, because we simply want residents there to have a town centre they can be proud of, providing them with a range of services.” Coun Crane also vowed the council would ensure communities across the district decide how the authority’s £450,000 bonus from the Government for building new homes was spent.
He said: “We will use our community engagement forums to do this, because it is up to the public what they want to spend this money on in their localities.
“The biggest challenge for the council is the cuts we will face in the next couple of years, but we have been dealing with difficult issues for the past eight years.
“We have a plan for how we are going to deal with this challenge, and now we have a chance to put it into practice.”
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