Work set to start on Stafford’s £70m retail revolution
WORK is set to start on a multi-million pound development set to transform Stafford’s retail offering.
Regeneration chiefs at Staffordshire County Council have put the finishing touches to the Riverway scheme so work can start on July 14, although preparatory work such as the demolition of the former Tesco multi-storey car park has already been carried out.
Highways engineers have also closed off footpaths close to the site and these will be shut throughout the build, which is set to be completed in 2016.
The £70m scheme will see the opening of a new Marks and Spencer store, together with Primark and other big name retailers.
The scheme will regenerate the site of the old Riverside recreation centre and the former Tesco site. It will include 18 retail units over 190,000 sq ft. A new multi storey car park will provide over 1,000 spaces with ground floor retail and leisure units facing the river. In addition there will be 180 spaces in a sub-basement car park under the Marks and Spencer store.
Additionally, the county council has confirmed preparatory work will start on a new Morrisons supermarket at Kingsmead in mid-July with the demolition of empty houses on North Walls. The main works will begin in October.
Staffordshire’s economic development leader, Cllr Mark Winnington said: “With the Riverside development progressing and work also starting at Kingsmead, we can really see the regeneration of Stafford town centre moving forward.
“It comes at the same time as the business development we are carrying out at Redhill and supporting on Beaconside, resulting in hundreds of jobs being created.”
Stafford Borough Council’s planning and regeneration leader, Cllr Frances Beatty said it was pleasing that work was finally getting under way on these important projects.
“It is clear they (retailers) are impressed with the vision we have for our borough and that brings with it the confidence for them to invest in Stafford,” she said.
