What you can do now
Citygate hasn't lodged its planning application yet. When it does, there'll be about three weeks to comment. Here's how to be ready.
- Be the first to know. Follow our WhatsApp channel or join the mailing list. We'll tell you the moment the application is published, with clear guidance on how to comment.
- Ask your ward councillors to call it in. From 31 October, most planning applications in Bromley are decided by council officers. This one can still be decided in public by councillors on the planning committee, but only if a councillor asks within three weeks of it appearing on the council's weekly list, and the council agrees it's significant enough. Please email your ward councillors now and ask them to be ready to do that. A short, polite note in your own words is plenty. Find your councillors here.
- Buy a ticket. The cinema is open until the end of November. Full screens help show that Beckenham uses its cinema.
- Add your voice. Record a minute on your phone about what the cinema means to you.
- Volunteer with us.
- Support the campaign. Donations pay for independent heritage and legal advice on our objection.
How commenting will work
Once the application is published, anyone can comment on it on the council's planning website. Only "material planning considerations" count: the effects on the town, such as the loss of Beckenham's only cinema, traffic and parking, and the impact on High Street shops and restaurants. Who owns the building, and what anyone believes, aren't planning matters, so please leave them out. Use your own words and include your full address so your comment is properly considered. We'll publish detailed guidance on the day.
The moment that matters
Citygate Church, which owns the building, has said it will apply to Bromley Council for permission to turn the cinema into a place of worship. When it applies, anyone can comment on the application, and comments that raise planning issues are part of what the council weighs before deciding.
That's when your voice counts most. The application hasn't been submitted yet. Get campaign updates and we'll tell you the day it is, with a short guide to writing a comment that counts.
Sources: Citygate Church in Beckenham public consultation materials, September 2026; London Borough of Bromley, Viewing and commenting on planning applications.
One campaign
Lots of people had the same idea at the same time, which is wonderful. It also means there's a risk of five groups each doing a fifth of the job. Councils listen hardest to one clear, well-organised voice.
So if you want to help, or you've started something of your own, come and join us. Bring your idea and we'll do our best to make it work inside the campaign, with your name on it.
Why one nomination matters
We're nominating the cinema as an Asset of Community Value. Bromley Council decides each nomination on its merits, and one strong nomination carrying everyone's names is far more persuasive than several partial ones competing for attention. That's why we're asking everyone to add their name to a single nomination instead of starting their own.
Who we are
Friends of Beckenham Cinema is a group of local residents who want the building to keep showing films. We're in touch with our ward councillors and our MP, and exploring interest from cinema operators.
Our nomination is in
We filed our nomination of the Odeon as an Asset of Community Value with Bromley Council on 5 October 2026, and we're waiting for the council's decision. Thank you to everyone who added their name.
What is an Asset of Community Value?
Under the Localism Act 2011, a community group can ask its council to list a building that furthers the community's social wellbeing or interests. If it's listed and the owner later wants to sell, community groups get a window to prepare a bid. Listing also shows the council, on the record, how much the building matters locally.
The form asks for your address because the council checks every name against the electoral register. Your details go to a private list held by the group and to Bromley Council for that check, and nowhere else.
Source: Localism Act 2011, Part 5, Chapter 3.
Two petitions, two jobs
The Change.org petition has already gathered a lot of support, and it's what the press quote. Please sign it and share it.
A council petition does a different job. Bromley formally counts only petitions made on its own website or on paper with each signer's name and address, because it checks that signers are real people who live, work or study in the borough. That checking is what gives it weight: a council petition goes on the official record, the council has to respond to it, and with enough verified signatures it can be taken to a meeting of the full Council, where every councillor hears it. Change.org shows how strongly Beckenham feels; a council petition puts that feeling formally in front of the people who decide.
We're checking the wording with the council first, so nobody's signature is wasted.
Council petition: coming soon. If you've already signed on Change.org, thank you, and please add your name to the council petition as well when it opens. Get campaign updates and we'll tell you the moment it does.
The building
The cinema opened as the Regal on 22 September 1930, designed by the architect Robert Cromie. It has also traded as the ABC, Cannon and MGM before becoming the Odeon.
Historic England listed it at Grade II on 21 January 1998, as the Odeon Cinema and Regal Ballroom.
Sources: Historic England list entry 1031565; Cinema Treasures.
Latest
- 26 Oct 2026Friday's public meeting, on film
- 24 Oct 2026This week at Save Our Screen: 24 October
- 16 Oct 2026Help us keep a cinema in Beckenham
- Sep 2026Citygate Church is running its own pre-application consultation, organised by its consultants, until mid-October. It is separate from this campaign and from the council's planning process. The formal moment to have your say is when a planning application is submitted, and we'll tell you when that happens.
- 30 Sep 2026We've asked Bromley Council's Democratic Services how a petition about the cinema can be validly worded.
- 29 Sep 2026Friends of Beckenham Cinema formed. Work begins on the Asset of Community Value nomination.
Get campaign updates
All we need is your email address. We'll use it to tell you when it's time to act: the day the planning application goes in, when the council petition opens, and when we need people in the room. Nothing else, and you can leave any time.
Write to your councillor (10 minutes)
Got an idea, a skill or a contact? We'd love to hear it at [email protected]