Metro Cinemas Lake Haven has been a staple of the Central Coast community for 11 years now, but on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026, the cinema was forced to close it’s doors by the Central Coast Council due to unrealistic rent expectations. Despite not receiving a dividend from the business since 2020, the cinemas directors had kept the cinema open to benefit the cinemas many loyal customers and staff members.

The cinema was already paying council 45-55% more than the current market rent for the space, something which was not sustainable in the long term, yet the council refused to agree to rent reductions. The directors also offered to continue operating the cinema until the council found new operators for the space (for the benefit and convenience of the community), but this offer was also rejected by council.

Given the current cost of living crisis, it is selfish of the council to force the closure of one of the few affordable entertainment venues on the Central Coast, especially given the pricing of the local alternatives.

Let’s look at the facts:

Metro Cinemas had their tickets priced at $15

The next closest cinema (Event Cinema’s Tuggerah) is priced between $19.20 (for a child) to $26.00 (for an adult) - (see Event Cinema’s Website)

This is a 73.3% price difference for an adult ticket.

The median household weekly income on the Central Coast is $1507 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021), which is lower than the Australian Average.

Households spend an average of:

$240/ wk on groceries (ABC News, 2025)

$31.63/ wk on electricity (Selectra Reports, 2025)

$30.42/ wk on water (IPART, 2024)

$400/ wk on rent (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021)

This totals to $702.05 of weekly household bills, without including clothing, internet, gas, school fees/ supplies, day care / oshc, transportation costs and various other essentials.

These numbers mean that other local entertainment options are incredibly unrealistic financially, especially for families. Please consider signing the petition, to encourage the council to reconsider the reopening / rent negotiations of Metro Cinemas Lake Haven.