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Hi Again,
With Daylight Savings over we have returned to three sessions
again. There is a group who want daylight savings to be extended
to six months of the year. I personally love daylight savings,
although it does make this business marginal to say the least,
but I really do wonder if we really need six months of it.
Surely the extra power used by homes and businesses in heating
in the mornings will more than off set any energy savings and I
really do wonder about children catching buses in spring and
autumn that early. It will certainly take a big financial toll
on Heddon Greta and the other drive-ins in Australia. If the
vast majority of Australians want extended daylight savings then
so be it, but unless there is any real advantage then perhaps it
should be left alone. If you agree with me, please take a moment
to send an email supporting us to your local NSW state MP. You
can find their email address at:
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members
As to our future,
three years back we were preparing a development application to
erect two more screens and divide our drive-in up into three
smaller fields. Changes within the cinema industry in regard to
release patterns for movie titles make survival of any single
screen cinema operation, be it a drive-in or a 'hard top', very
difficult. We were making our preparations when we were
approached by the representatives of a well known developer with
a view to acquiring ours and all the surrounding properties for
a large residential development. We agreed in principle on the
understanding that we would receive sufficient money to build a
brand new drive-in on another site.
Some irresponsible person phoned the KOFM Rumour Mill saying
that the property had been sold for a multi-million dollar sum
and ever since we have heard dozens of rumours that we are
closing or indeed have closed. Some of the purveyors even argued
with us when we told them they were talking nonsense.
There followed over two years of pointless stalling in the name
of negotiation which has achieved nothing but waste time. I have
made six requests to speak to the developer personally and he
hasn't even acknowledged my requests. We are now preparing once
again to submit our development application and we will use all
resources available to us to oppose any rezoning application in
this area.
I believe that we make a substantial contribution to the region
and its people and there is no substantive reason for us to
stop.
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Hi Again,
After our 4 week maintenance period we reopened on Boxing Day with HAPPY FEET, doing a 3 week season to 17th January. We have changed our restaurant menu somewhat, reintroducing the hamburger after a break of seven years or so.
Also this month we are trialling "Ticket Recycling". If you come in January you can bring your ticket back in February and receive a $5.00 discount from your February admission… We just want to give a little reward to our regular patrons.
I also note with some sadness the closure of the Regal Cinema in Birmingham Gardens, leaving one less single screen cinema in Australia and a lot of history and fine memories for many people. I would like to give a personal tribute to Mr Bruce Avard who ran the cinema tirelessly for 34 years, usually as a completely solo operation.
As to our future, three years back we were preparing a development application to erect two more screens and divide our drive-in up into three smaller fields. Changes within the cinema industry in regard to release patterns for movie titles make survival of any single screen cinema operation, be it a drive-in or a 'hard top', very difficult. We were making our preparations when we were approached by the representatives of a well known developer with a view to acquiring ours and all the surrounding properties for a large residential development. We agreed in principle on the understanding that we would receive sufficient money to build a brand new drive-in on another site.
Some irresponsible person phoned the KOFM Rumour Mill saying that the property had been sold for a multi-million dollar sum and ever since we have heard dozens of rumours that we are closing or indeed have closed. Some of the purveyors even argued with us when we told them they were talking nonsense.
There followed over two years of pointless stalling in the name of negotiation which has achieved nothing but waste time. I have made six requests to speak to the developer personally and he hasn't even acknowledged my requests. We are now preparing once again to submit our development application and we will use all resources available to us to oppose any rezoning application in this area.
I believe that we make a substantial contribution to the region and its people and there is no substantive reason for us to stop.
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