Council set to buy shopping centre for redevelopment

A shopping centre in Evesham is set to be bought by the council in a bid to develop the site, including building new homes.

Wychavon District Council said its negotiations to take on the Riverside Shopping Centre were entering the final stages and it hoped the purchase to go through by the end of March.

It wants to turn the site into a mixed-use development, featuring residential, leisure and retail spaces.

The deal also includes units in Market Square, except for The Roundhouse, which is owned by NatWest, and units on Bridge Street, including Marilyn's Nightclub.

The district council said business there would be allowed to continue trading and it would honour all existing tenancies.

It has also announced plans to enter talks with Evesham Town Council to discuss a potential transfer of Evesham Town Hall and the unit underneath.

A planning application to demolish the shopping centre is expected to be submitted in April, with an application for the redevelopment to be submitted at a later date.

Wychavon District Council leader Richard Morris said: "We have reached another milestone towards bringing the Riverside Shopping Centre into public ownership and fulfilling the promise we made to the people of Evesham in our We are Wychavon Plan.

"While there is still a lot of work to do and nothing is guaranteed until agreements have been signed, we're confident enough progress has been made to be able to publicly share the timetable for the purchase and demolition of the centre for the first time."

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