Environment Secretary Nicholas Ridley will decide the fate of the out-of-town shopping and leisure centre being proposed for Cribbs Causeway outside Bristol.
Last week he called in the two rival applications for the area: both Prudential Assurance and J T Bayliss & Co are pitching to develop a major centre there. The main issues likely to be considered at the public inquiry will be the suitability of the site, the impact of a scheme on other shopping centres, especially the £80m Broadmead scheme proposed by the Ladbroke Group for Bristol, and the traffic implications.
As we reported on October 25, Northavon council, which has agreed in principle to 275,000 sq ft of shopping and leisure at Cribbs Causeway, has told the two developers to go away and agree a composite scheme.
Meanwhile, Ladbroke’s retail development subsidiary, Ladbroke City & County Land, said they would start building the 300,000-sq ft Broadmead centre next summer.
The scheme, which now has detailed planning consent, will have four major stores, over 80 shops, a food court and 1,250 parking spaces. Bristol council, which is the freeholder, has agreed to use its compulsory purchase powers if necessary to finish assembling the site.
