Councillor was 'begging' nightclub to be part of Nicholsons plans, inquiry hears

A senior councillor was 'begging' the council leader to include a Maidenhead nightclub in the Nicholsons Centre redevelopment as email correspondence between the venue and developers was revealed this week.

A public inquiry continued at the town hall yesterday (Thursday) regarding a compulsory purchase order (CPO) issued by the Royal Borough on tenants of the shopping centre, which is eyed for mixed-use retail, offices and 650 apartments. 

CPOs are often used by authorities to acquire land intended for development - but despite reaching agreements for much of the space, conclusions have not been finalised with some third parties, including Smokeys nightclub, owned by the Page family. 

The hearing began on Wednesday at which a lawyer representing the club, in Nicholsons Lane, felt it would be 'extinguished' from the town under plans to redevelop the shopping complex, being led by Tikehau Capital and Areli, which bought the centre in 2019. 

Thursday's proceedings saw Will Robinson, a development director at Areli, take to the witness seat to be questioned by Smokeys' representative Annabel Graham Paul and James Pereira, who is representing the council.

Email conversations between Smokeys, the council and developers were read out to planning inspector John Felgate, with Ms Graham Paul claiming that there was 'no suggestion' of relocating the club into the development.

She added that the venue was instead offered space above Holland and Barrett and the snooker hall above McDonald's in Maidenhead High Street.

"There is no suggestion from Areli about designing Smokeys back into the scheme," Ms Graham Paul said.

Mr Robinson replied that it was 'normal' to explore alternative locations for the club at this stage of the plans, which he said were 'evolving'.

An email from ward councillor Donna Stimson to council leader Andrew Johnson from July 2020 was then read to the inquiry, in which she claimed the developers were 'not playing ball' with regards to relocating the club.

"It was the councillors' view that Areli were not playing ball and she is begging the leader of the council to do something about it," Ms Graham Paul added. "Political pressure is going on at this point.

"Surely you were aware that Smokeys were enthusiastic about being part of the scheme?"

Mr Robinson said he 'knew there was aspiration' of potentially including the nightclub in the scheme but because there were a 'number of moving parts', the developer was not able to finalise any kind of deal. 

The hearing heard that the club was eventually offered a space within the Nicholson Quarter development on the ground floor of the planned new multi-storey car park in Broadway, which is owned by the council.

But the issue of a suitable smoking area with the correct ventilation turned out to be a key sticking point and no agreement has since been reached.

Discussions around a type of mesh material or gapped brickwork were floated but were not fit to coincide with strict laws around smoking in enclosed public spaces. 

The inquiry also learned that Smokeys were offered an 'L-shaped' venue, but this was not safe for an entertainment space.

"All of these problems could have been avoided if Areli had engaged with Smokeys in 2019 in order to integrate them properly into the scheme," Ms Graham Paul said.

She added that no detailed tests had been carried out to show whether a night-time venue could operate out of the space offered, claiming that 'no nightclub could lawfully function' there due to inefficient fire exits.

This angered Mr Pereira, who asked why this issue had not been raised during several years' worth of discussions over the space.

"I am not aware that this was an issue," he said. "We had always understood that one of your client's requirements and sticking point was an outdoor space for smokers.

"We have been trying to resolve an issue here and I am concerned there is something else festering that we were not aware of."

Above: The Nicholsons car park is also set to be redeveloped 

Mr Robinson said he felt it was an 'unlikely' that a solution could be found for the smoking area and added that it would also be a problem if Smokeys was relocated elsewhere in the scheme.

"We have no objection at all to a nightclub use within the scheme," he said. "It is about having appropriate uses in appropriate places.

"We believe the appropriate place is within the multi-storey car park; clearly the difficulty we have is the smoking area."

Mr Felgate quipped that the club would be a 'non-smoking Smokeys' and asked Mr Robinson what he could say to the Page family with regards to reconfiguring the car park space.

"We will work with Smokeys to configure that space with the regulations that we have set," he said. "What I can't say is we will provide a smoking area but the internal space, we can configure."

The hearing was expected to conclude today (Friday).