It has been several months since I last posted an update but like you I had been waiting for an announcement from PACL concerning the promised autumn re-opening. Now we are into November the continued silence from the Pavilion speaks volumes. Speaking to BBC Wales in May, PACL Chair Tony Hazell confirmed that the cinema would welcome visitors again from September – if not before! I thought though that I would just let you know the things that I am aware of :- Whilst it is yet to be seen if PACL actually wants the cinema to re-open it appears that one major hurdle is the fact that film distributors are unwilling to work with PACL given the debt that was incurred previously by the ICO. This is hardly surprising given the comments that many people who have done business with PACL in the past concerning their failure to pay bills. • Sources tell me that the volunteer base at the Pavilion has now plummeted to single figures which speaks volumes in itself. However as we know the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded PACL a further substantial grant to PACL earlier this year including to fund a volunteer Co-Ordinator. A person has now been appointed to that role though I have to say I don’t recall seeing it advertised anywhere. The post is being managed by Glamorgan Voluntary Services (GVS) in Barry rather than directly by PACL . An advert in a recent GVS publication appealing for volunteers mentions several roles at the Pavilion but NOT the cinema. • The person employed by PACL to run the cinema has now left or is imminently leaving • The local cinema pop up Snowcat hired the cinema earlier this week for 2 screenings of horror films for Halloween. They are planning to further screenings of old classics later this month. Seems that pop up film club nights is all our state of the art digital cinema can now be used for. PACL has continued to completely disengage from the very community here in Penarth it relies on for business. There is no further news from the key stakeholders/funders the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Vale of Glamorgan Council. If PACL no longer wish to operate the cinema then clearly they need to hand it over to another operator who will be able to run it as it should be. Just down the road from us in Penarth we have both Chapter and the Tramshed who both successfully run small independent cinemas