Saving cinema isn't up to university

As an outsider moving to the area it's been fascinating to me that the general view has been responsibility falls on the uni to maintain the cinema and keep the doors open.

The last two areas I lived had privately owner-operated cinemas so it was a revelation for me to even hear the uni had a hand in its running.

But that does little to change the fact it is not the responsibility of the uni to maintain the cinema in town, keeping the doors open has much more to do with you and I.

Like any business, it depends on patron levels to reach any level of profitability so if you want to see the cinema stay and running ... use it. Go see a film.

Theatres nationally have been squeezed by the rise of streaming services, there are 'blockbuster' movies that will open simultaneously in the comfort of your own home as they do on the big screen.

Given that choice, many will stay home.

Let me be clear in saying I totally understand that choice, there is a rental crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and rising medical and petrol costs so a visit to the movies is a luxury that fewer and fewer people can afford regularly.

But we cannot sit on our laurels and place expectation on the uni - or the next managing tenant of the Belgrave - to keep it operational if there aren't enough people putting bums on seats.

Saving the cinema isn't up to the uni, it's up to us.

Jacob McMaster, Editor