The lack of activity on the site has been a bone of contention in the town since the cinema was closed and eventually pulled down in 2001.
For nearly two decades, various developers have taken possession of the land, only to subsequently sell it on.
Elysian Residences took ownership of the 1.3 acre parcel of land last year, after previous developers Altitude pulled out of building a mixed use retail and residential complex.
Last month, the company had their plans to turn the site into a mix of 108 retirement apartments, retail units, a restaurant and boutique cinema, approved by the Council’s planning committee.
A digger and Portacabin were spotted last week behind the hoardings on the site, as work began to clear the ground ready for building work to begin on the £80million ‘Belvedere’ at the end of the year.
Mark Curry, Head of Development & Planning at Elysian Residences explained: “As soon as we received full planning consent we instructed our diggers to begin clearing the remaining building, which is an important step towards being able to begin construction.”
