New hope for town centre
Walton town centre’s rejuvenation could be back on track after a new company this week on the verge of signing a 1.5m deal to take on the project.
The company Shearer Property Group, is behind some of the grandest shopping centre developments in the country. If it signs the deal to take on the lease from the current developers Frogmore, the regeneration of the town centre could be a step nearer to reality after being dogged by years of setbacks.
The Shearer group is currently at the forefront of shopping developments in Bath and Cambridge at a cost of £400m. It was also behind schemes in Kent, Wimbledon, Crawley and Woking.
Elmbridge Council’s Chief Executive Mike Lockwood, urged caution because ‘nothing concrete’ has been agreed. But he said: “As soon as we have some news we will obviously let residents know.”
Frogmore secured planning permission in January to build a new shopping centre, health centre and library. Barratt’s were supposed to build an additional 268 flats, including 67 affordable homes, in partnership with Frogmore. However, the scheme suffered a series of setbacks after Barratt’s pulled out in February. Frogmore bought the lease for the land in the early 1990’s and built Sainsbury’s store, off New Zealand Avenue, in November 2001.
The firm shut down several stores under Phase One of the scheme which have remained vacant for months, triggering anger and frustration among local people. It never got to Phase Two and there have been rumours for some time it wanted to off-load the lease. No one from Frogmore was available for comment.
Chairman of the town’s Retail Guild, Peter Myson, of the Bookstore, High Street, said: “We are just keeping our fingers crossed. We would be glad to see the back of Frogmore.”
Although its not certain whether the new developers would stick to Frogmore’s plans for a shopping centre, health facilities and library, its main business is transforming town centre's.
Source: Walton, Weybridge and Hersham Herald.
The company Shearer Property Group, is behind some of the grandest shopping centre developments in the country. If it signs the deal to take on the lease from the current developers Frogmore, the regeneration of the town centre could be a step nearer to reality after being dogged by years of setbacks.
The Shearer group is currently at the forefront of shopping developments in Bath and Cambridge at a cost of £400m. It was also behind schemes in Kent, Wimbledon, Crawley and Woking.
Elmbridge Council’s Chief Executive Mike Lockwood, urged caution because ‘nothing concrete’ has been agreed. But he said: “As soon as we have some news we will obviously let residents know.”
Frogmore secured planning permission in January to build a new shopping centre, health centre and library. Barratt’s were supposed to build an additional 268 flats, including 67 affordable homes, in partnership with Frogmore. However, the scheme suffered a series of setbacks after Barratt’s pulled out in February. Frogmore bought the lease for the land in the early 1990’s and built Sainsbury’s store, off New Zealand Avenue, in November 2001.
The firm shut down several stores under Phase One of the scheme which have remained vacant for months, triggering anger and frustration among local people. It never got to Phase Two and there have been rumours for some time it wanted to off-load the lease. No one from Frogmore was available for comment.
Chairman of the town’s Retail Guild, Peter Myson, of the Bookstore, High Street, said: “We are just keeping our fingers crossed. We would be glad to see the back of Frogmore.”
Although its not certain whether the new developers would stick to Frogmore’s plans for a shopping centre, health facilities and library, its main business is transforming town centre's.
Source: Walton, Weybridge and Hersham Herald.
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