CINEMA scheme developers Henry Davidson have been told they must submit a new application by March next year. St Albans District Council has taken a firm line with the developers who had asked for an extension to their contract because of the economic do

CINEMA scheme developers Henry Davidson have been told they must submit a new application by March next year.

St Albans District Council has taken a firm line with the developers who had asked for an extension to their contract because of the economic downturn.

Instead of agreeing to the extension, the council is now insisting on a new application being submitted next year.

Henry Davidson has a contract until 2011 with the council which has a clause that a planning application has to be submitted by 2009.

The company has already submitted two previous applications to build a mixed use scheme including a multiplex cinema, flats and restaurants on the site of the council's car park in Bricket Road, St Albans.

The most recent application which was dubbed the Twin Towers because it had two blocks, one of eight storeys and the other of 12, was withdrawn last March following criticism of its design and its impact on the city-centre skyline.

Cllr Chris Brazier, the council's Planning Portfolio Holder, said this week: "People want to go to a multi-screen cinema and we are committed to providing one.