Telford & Wrekin Council unveils new Southwater regeneration masterplan
Telford & Wrekin Council has unveiled its revised masterplan for the £250m regeneration of the Southwater area of Telford town centre as private sector interest in investing in the scheme continues to flourish.
New developments include the adoption of a new action plan for Central Telford, changes to the council's accommodation strategy and new information about the needs and requirements of both developers and the public.
The Central Telford Area Action Plan was formally adopted in March and for the first time extends the primary shopping centre into Southwater, meaning planning considerations for the area have changed.
Telford & Wrekin Council leader Kuldip Sahota said: "The revised scheme will help to kick start the wider regeneration of Telford town centre.
"We pledged not to continue with the previous administration's plan to build a new Civic Offices and that has given us greater flexibility with the scheme and enabling us to make some positive changes to benefit the community.
"What is really exciting is the interest being shown by the private sector in investing in the proposed developments. We’ve already received a number of substantial bids for different parts of the scheme and we look forward to announcing the detail of those."
The first phase of the new scheme will feature a mix of public and private sector developments.
A community hub will include bars, restaurants, cafes and shops, Telford & Wrekin Council's FirstPoint and customer contact centre as well as replacement library and a range of voluntary organisations.
A new multi screen cinema with more bars and restaurants are also included in the plan. Bids have already been received for a comprehensive mixed use leisure development and a preferred developer identified.
A 600 space multi storey car park will be accessible from the town centre box road providing safe, convenient, high quality parking for visitors.
New bids have also been received from the private sector to develop an 80 bed hotel with associated bars, restaurants and cafes.
Meeting Point House, Ten Pin Bowling and Rank Bingo will all be retained in the new development and the frontage of the bowling and bingo improved.
Proposed improvements to the Ice Rink will be discussed by a future meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet.
Work has already started on the new Town Park Visitor Centre, which will be built to high environmental standards and will contain facilities to promote the park as well as educational resources
Telford & Wrekin Council has increased its own investment in the scheme by £7.5m and has also secured a further £17m in private sector funding.
This has been facilitated through decisions on office accommodation, amendments to the suite of works and the disposal of additional sites within the development.
The government's Homes and Communities Agency is also investing £9.5m into the plans for Southwater.
This investment will transform Southwater and will be instrumental in furthering the private sector investment made to date by Southwater Event Group.
