Colchester's Gala Bingo Club is saved (From Gazette)

Colchester's Gala Bingo Club is saved

8:30pm Tuesday 23rd August 2011 in News By James Calnan

NEARLY 20,000 bingo fans are celebrating after it was revealed their Colchester bingo hall will remain.

For seven years, Gala Bingo has been under threat because the premises were earmarked to make way for the long-awaited Vineyard Gate Shopping Centre.

Earlier this month, the Gazette revealed Caddick, the company behind the project, wanted to scale down the scheme.

Now it has been confirmed the home of Gala Bingo, and the Osborne Street multi-storey car park above, will be untouched by the plans.

Elsie Mann, 81, of Earls Colne, plays bingo three times a week and calls it her “second home”.

She said: “I should very much miss it if it wasn’t here.”

Thelma Compton, 73, was a regular at Gala’s previous homes in the Hippodrome, on the High Street, and the Playhouse, and now catches two buses to reach Osborne Street.

She said: “I wouldn’t be able to go any further because I can’t walk properly.”

Gala had been offered several Colchester sites to relocate to, including the current Waitrose supermarket and the former bus garage in Magdalen Street.

The club’s general manager, John Anderson, said it was a relief for the 19,000 members, who liked the site because the nearby car park, train station and regular bus services meant it was very accessible.

He said: “We’re a big presence in the town. Everybody knows where we are, and we’re pleased to remain here. All roads lead here and there’s easy access for all our members.”

Vineyard Gate will now be an open-air shopping centre, with one flagship store and space for leisure businesses. With revised plans not due to be unveiled until next year, the fate of businesses on the other side of Osborne Street, including Kwik Fit, remains unclear.

Colchester MP Bob Russell described confirmation Gala was to be saved under the new proposals as “sanity”.

The Lib Dem said: “Vineyard Gate, had it gone ahead, would have dragged the shopping centre off-balance and diluted trade, to the detriment of established shops.

“What I believe is now proposed for the Vineyard Street area is more modest. But I have not seen details, so judgment is reserved. What is important is the bingo club will not be forced to move under compulsion demanded by the council, to the benefit of the property development company.”