New look for North Westgate
A "CATHEDRAL-LIKE" structure towers over a revamped Peterborough bus station, in new plans revealed today by the partnership behind a £480 million transformation of the Westgate area.
A "CATHEDRAL-LIKE" structure towers over a revamped Peterborough bus station, in new plans revealed today by the partnership behind a 480 million transformation of the Westgate area.An earlier version of the scheme unveiled last year had shown the bus station shifted 60 metres west from its current home to a spot next to Bourges Boulevard.
But in the latest version of the North Westgate proposals, it stays where it is, albeit radically changed.
Instead of being a narrow canyon between Queensgate and the Royce and Clare multi-storey car parks, the bus station is now beneath a "retail bridge" linking the current shopping centre with new buildings.
And above that, accessed by spiral ramps, is a new car park for 600 vehicles.
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Special Report: North Westgate development
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The wraps have been taken off this bold vision by the Queensgate Limited Partnership (QLP), which intends to replace its current planning application for the scheme with a new one and lodge it with the authorities later this year.
Under the reworked proposals, which QLP insists could still become reality by 2013:
The Clare, Royce and Cavell multi-storey car parks are demolished as before, but the Perkins multi-storey is now retained and refurbished.
Car parking is not concentrated in two new multi-storeys with a combined capacity of 3,300 spaces, but is more widely spread over four car parks, plus the bus station car park, giving 2,892 spaces.
A multiplex cinema is now on the edge of the development at Bourges Boulevard, so that it becomes more visible.
READ ET COMMENT: Now it is time to deliver
But there is no space in the rejigged plans for the existing Brewery Tap pub, which still faces the wrecking ball, despite the objections of protesters who mounted a Don't Scrap The Tap campaign.
Richard Brown, development manager for Hammerson plc, which is masterminding the scheme with Morley Fund Management in a joint venture, insisted the pub had to go.
He said: "There has been no real move on that from the existing scheme, but we are talking to them about the possibility of relocation."
And he was adamant the changes to the scheme did not represent a backward step, but were responses to views thrown up in a consultation exercise.
He said: "The partnership remains totally committed to the regeneration of the city centre, and we are pleased to have had the opportunity to respond to community feedback.
"We remain on track with our delivery timetable, and the revisions to the scheme include positive changes that will ensure the best possible scheme for the city is created."
Plans to redevelop the area around Westgate have been in the pipeline for at least five years.
When QLP submitted a planning application to the city council last year, it was hailed as an "historic day" for Peterborough.
With at least 60 new homes in the scheme, plus a new Marks & Spencer store, the cinema, 60 shops, and restaurants, the proposals were seen as heralding the biggest shake-up of the city centre in a generation.
Despite the apparent hiccup of a new application containing the changes now being necessary, the scheme's supporters are keen to stress it's full steam ahead.Chief executive of the city council Gillian Beasley said it would give Peterborough the chance to offer a different kind of nightlife based on a new public square around Westgate Church.
She said: "We know we need to bring life to the city by bringing people to live here and need to bring in a different kind of offer in terms of a restaurant offer and a family offer, and the scheme does that and, indeed, more."
Chief executive for regeneration organisation Opportunity Peterborough Steve Compton said: "This is an important step in bringing forward a key development within the city centre, which will further enhance Peterborough's growth and offering."
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Friday 19 March 2010
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