Odeon says it stops trading in Beckenham at the end of November 2026 after giving up its lease. No other cinema operator has shown interest, Citygate says.

The Odeon in Beckenham will stop showing films at the end of November 2026, a month earlier than the building’s owner had said. The date comes from a statement by Odeon Cinemas itself. Citygate Church, which owns the Grade II listed building, has published it word for word on its consultation website.

“Odeon Cinemas has entered a voluntary commercial agreement with its landlord and will cease operating from the Beckenham cinema at the end of November 2026. The cinema will continue to welcome guests as usual until then.”

Citygate calls it “the official Odeon statement” (Citygate, Your Questions Answered). Its homepage still says the cinema “will be closing in December 2026” (beckenham.site). When we first reported the plans on 30 September, December was the only date either side had published.

Odeon gave up the lease, Citygate says

The church’s new question-and-answer page sets out its side of how the cinema came to close. It says:

  • Odeon is Citygate’s tenant, and Citygate owns the building.
  • Citygate did not ask Odeon to leave. Odeon “made the voluntary commercial decision to surrender their lease, which had many years left to run”.
  • Other cinema operators have been approached and “so far, there is no interest from any other operator”. Citygate says it will give Bromley Council the full paperwork on this with its planning application.
  • The single auditorium it wants to restore “will be fitted with the necessary technology to show films”.
  • Its existing building on Rectory Road, opposite the Odeon, will be kept for church use.
  • It is not buying any other buildings in the area.

Those answers matter for the planning decision. Bromley’s Local Plan protects community facilities, including cinemas. Where a change of use needs permission, “the lack of need for the specific use class must first be demonstrated” (Bromley Local Plan, Policy 20). Evidence that no other operator wants the building is the kind of thing that test turns on. Whether Citygate’s evidence is enough will be for the council to judge once the application is in.

The application is still to come

Citygate’s survey closed at 5pm on Tuesday 13 October, after a drop-in at the church on Saturday 10 October. The church says all the responses “will be carefully analysed” and that a planning application “will shortly then be made to Bromley Council” (Citygate, Your Questions Answered). Its timeline still shows the project at the consultation stage, with planning submission next (beckenham.site).

No application for the Odeon appears in the borough’s planning records yet (PlanIt, Bromley applications). The building is listed, so the alterations will need listed building consent as well as planning permission.

Citygate has also published the boards it showed at the drop-in. On traffic and parking for larger events, it says only that “plans are in place”. On what else the building would host, including community, arts and performance groups, it says it is “listening to the local community”.

The petition keeps growing

The Change.org petition “Keep Beckenham Odeon as a cinema” stood at 11,505 signatures on the morning of 14 October (Change.org). It passed its original goal of 7,500 in the first week of October and is now aiming for 15,000. It had 9,508 signatures a week ago.

Liam Conlon, the MP for Beckenham and Penge, ran his own survey on the closure before meeting Citygate and Odeon (Liam Conlon MP, Action Network). He has not published an account of those meetings that we could find.

What it means for you

  • If you have Odeon tickets, gift cards or a membership, plan on the cinema being open only until the end of November. Odeon’s statement says it trades “as usual” until then. It has not given an exact last day, so check with Odeon before booking anything in late November.
  • If you want a say on the church plans, the formal stage comes when the application is lodged. The council will run its own consultation then, and anyone can comment. We will report it when it appears. Our Bromley planning applications guide explains how to find an application and comment on it.
  • The petition is on Change.org. It is separate from the planning process: to be counted on the application itself, comments have to go to the council once it is lodged.

Sources