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  Statement to Local Rag by Bob Frost (Cllr) :-
  
  In spite of everyone's wishes and aspirations for the Regent site the Scruitiny Committee's proposals will not make one jot of difference to any progress on Deal getting a cinema.
  
  The facts of the matter are, like them or not, that the site is privately owned and whilst the owner is only allowed to use the site for certain restricted uses (reflected in the purchase price) no-one in the land can force him to do anything specific with it nor within any time frame. This is basic property law in the UK.
  
  Talk of a Compulsory Purchase Orders is pure fantasy. When I discussed it with the Solicitor to the Council this week he explained that DDC has had much experience of these with the St James site in Dover (DTIZ).
  
  They cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to apply for, take years to be processed through the courts and are only ever granted where there is an overwhelming public interest e.g. to build a school or a new motorway or, as in the case of Dover, completely re-developing a Town Centre in accordance with the Local Plan. The idea one would be granted just because a group of people in Deal think they 'need a cinema' is laughable.
  
  Any councillor who claims that they, Dover District Council or anyone else has powers to force a resolution on this matter is either a fool or a liar.

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