Plans for the redevelopment of the River Nene South Bank in Peterborough have made progress after planning applications to relocate stores on key sites were submitted.
The applications are for B&Q and Matalan to relocate from East Station Road to the city’s Boulevard retail park at Maskew Avenue.
The move will free-up two key sites for the development.
The South Bank development partners – Peterborough City Council, English Partnerships and East of England Development Agency – will now be able to submit an outline planning application for the 40-acre site.
Outline proposals for the South Bank include;
● A conference hotel with leisure facilities on the site of the city council’s Bridge House offices,
● Offices flanking the east-west rail line with access from East Station Road and Cripple Sidings Lane,
● Restaurants, bars and other leisure-related premises in ‘Mill Square’,
● Around 500 homes,
● A pedestrian bridge linking Mill Square with the north bank of the Nene, making it possible for residents to walk to city centre work places.
The scheme will now be projected to a ‘hot list’ of developers early next year. Detailed plans are expected to be ready by the end of 2006.
Peterborough City Council Leader Councillor Ben Franklin added: “We now have a list of developers who have shown interest in taking the scheme forward.
“The selected developer will obviously want a rapid return on its investment, so we hope actual construction will proceed in the next few years.
“These South Bank proposals represent yet another significant component in our strategy to act as a catalyst in generating large-scale growth so that Peterborough fulfils its potential in the government’s Sustainable Communities Programme for the London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough corridor.”
Lord Mawhinney, chairman of the Peterborough Urban Regeneration Company, said: “This development is welcome because it is the first concrete step in what will be a long road to a new and vibrant city centre.”
The South Bank project is the latest in several developments currently progressing in Peterborough.
Morley and Hammerson – the city council’s preferred development partners – have already consulted on their plans for a £250m retail-led mixed-used project in North Westgate; and a development brief for a Station Quarter gateway is due to begin a public consultation exercise shortly.
References: EGi News 24/08/05
