It has entertained generations of local families, but the iconic Heddon Greta Drive-In is set to make way for housing.
But it's not quite time to roll the credits; the drive-in's owner says he is still looking at options to relocate to another site.
A development application has been lodged with Cessnock City Council to subdivide the drive-in land into 63 housing lots.
The drive-in is part of the Avery's Village urban release area, which was rezoned in 2013 and now all but surrounds the drive-in property.
Scott Seddon - who has owned the drive-in since 1996 - said the outcome was "inevitable".
"We are still looking at options to relocate to another site in a far more modern facility. At this stage the drive-in will continue operating as it is for at least another 12 months," he said.
Heddon Greta Drive-In opened in December 1967, closed twice in the 1980s and '90s, before Mr Seddon bought and re-opened the complex in 1996.
It is now one of just two drive-in movie theatres that are still operating in NSW - the other is in Blacktown.
If approved by council, the subdivision would be known as "Hollywood", paying tribute to the history of the site.
The development application's Statement of Environmental Effects notes that the proposed subdivision is zoned R2 Low Density Residential, and is consistent with the provisions of the Cessnock Development Control Plan (DCP) 2010 - Averys Village, Heddon Greta and Cessnock Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 2011.
Meanwhile, Cessnock council now has a formal strategy to identify the infrastructure and servicing needs for Heddon Greta and Cliftleigh, which have almost tripled in population in the decade up to the 2021 Census.
At its August 17 meeting, council adopted the Heddon Greta-Cliftleigh Corridor Structure Plan, which will also identify future land release opportunities and public domain improvements.
The towns' combined population grew from 1891 to 5147 in the 10 years up to August 2021, with the proximity to the Hunter Expressway (which opened in 2014) the main factor for the residential boom.
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