ORPINGTON’S cinema is a year behind schedule but ‘it is going to come’.

This is the promise from The Walnuts shopping centre manager Martin Price, who is also the chairman of the Orpington 1st business improvement district.

Speaking to the News Shopper he says the problem at the moment is there are not enough businesses willing to rent the units around the cinema, on the site of the former job centre.

According to Mr Price, 60 per cent of them need to be pre-let before construction can start and at the moment they are 48 per cent pre-let.

Apparently TK Maxx had been interested in taking a renting a large part of the development but when Comet went bust the clothing company decided to move into its old premises in Cray Avenue instead.

Mr Price says talks are underway between companies and the site owners to try and find another business willing to pre-let a unit.

He said: “They are hopeful it will come before Christmas and construction maybe during the first quarter of next year; they just need one more pre-let.

“If they can get that and they start building then everybody will start to see things coming off the ground.

“It’s going to come, we are a year behind schedule.

“The problem with the cinema is it is about a six month fit out but we hope we will get some of the retail units open before Christmas next year.”

Odeon Cinema exchanged contracts in July committing it to opening a seven screen multiplex on the site.