The $50 million cinema development was approved by Wodonga Council in late 2018, but less than 18 months later it was dead in the water due in part to the onset of COVID-19.

Subsequently, the developer, Central Place, was able to entice Dan Murphy's to occupy a large part of the site on the corner of Elgin Boulevard and Smythe Street.

It also emerged during community consultations being conducted by Development Victoria in response to the public backlash to the bottle shop planning permit application that draft plans were submitted to council in May this year ahead of public release in late July.

Cr Libby Hall recently publicly raised concerns about the majority of councillors being kept in the dark about how a replacement tenant came about on such a key development site in the city.

"During late 2018, throughout 2019 and into 2020, Central Place sought to advance the development of the cinema development at Junction Place with United Cinemas on the corner of Elgin Boulevard and Smythe Street," a Central Place spokesperson said.

"In May 2020 and July 2020, United Cinemas wrote to Central Place advising that due to the level of pre-commitment leases required and the impacts of COVID-19, the cinema was not able to be commenced.

"The changing market conditions as a result of COVID-19, allowed a review and refresh of the master plan to ensure commercial viability and to realign with the broader context of the site.

"A cinema and entertainment centre remains a key component of the Junction Place masterplan in a revised location, and we remain committed to delivering that outcome for Wodonga."

IN OTHER NEWS

The revised master plan and Dan Murphy's bottle shop will be determined by councillors in coming months."

Under the proposed revised master plan, the cinema will be built facing High Street.

"The block for the cinema has been sized to where we think the local demand is in terms of about 600 to 700 seats," Brad Hennessy from Luoda, property consultants engaged by Central Place, said in the initial consultation session.

"United is still in discussions.

"But as you could appreciate, cinemas haven't been open for 18 months and it is quite a difficult environment.

"Everyone is working hard to try and resurrect that.

"Some operators are still willing to have discussions and we are actively having those discussions."

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