The Point cinema in Milton Keynes

Source: Screen File (2015)

The Point cinema in Milton Keynes

A petition has been launched online after developers won an appeal to demolish the UK’s first purpose-built multiplex cinema, The Point in Milton Keynes, to build flats on the site.

The petition to stop the demolition is housed on Change.org and was started by local resident Andy Legg last week. As of today (July 21), it has just shy of 3,000 signatures. 

The cinema opened in 1985 and closed in 2015, at which point it was operated by Odeon.
 An Odeon now operates at Milton Keynes Stadium. 

Redevelopment plans for The Point site have been in the works for over a decade. Milton Keynes Council voted against UK property developer Galliard Holdings’ plans to build 487 apartments across several blocks, the highest of which is 21 storeys, in July 2024. However, the proposal was given the go-ahead earlier this month after an appeal was lodged, and will include a bar, sports facilities and a new cinema on the roof.

The plans were initially rejected because the building did not offer enough affordable housing, and The Point’s status as a non-designated heritage asset. Galliard Holdings then agreed to pay £690,009 towards the provision of affordable housing elsewhere in Milton Keynes.

Millard Ochs, former president of Warner Bros International Cinemas who led on the opening of The Point under AMC Theatres, has thrown his weight behind the petition. 



“This location was the first multiplex in the UK but also the first outside the USA. Because of the success of The Point, it was the catalyst for cinema development in the UK and the world,” said Ochs in a post on LinkedIn. “It helped create jobs both in the cinema industry but in the film industry as well. Those kids that went to the cinema 40 years ago could very well become actors, directors or producers of film. The UK film industry should petition the relevant government official to place a heritage plaque and register the building.”

Legg is campaigning for the local planning authority to issue a building preservation notice, which legally protects unlisted buildings of historic or architectural interest from demolition for six months, during which time an assessment could take place for the building to become formally listed by Historic England. 

He said on the petition: “I’m leading a passionate plan to revitalise The Point back to a vibrant 10-screen cinema, blending five retro 35mm screens for retro classic and cult/pop culture films and the other five screens for new releases.

“We would create up to 100 jobs and attract 500k-1M visitors yearly, bringing money into the city. We would also put forward a National Heritage Listing to protect this landmark forever.”

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