BUSINESS leaders are urging Colchester Council to help town centre traders to fight off the threat posed by plans for a new out-of-town retail and leisure park.

The Tollgate Partnership has unveiled a multimillion-pound plan to redevelop 20 acres at Stanway, with the promise of creating 1,000 jobs.

The development would cover the former Sainsbury’s supermarket site and and area opposite Currys/PC World with a mixture of shops, restaurants and leisure facilities.

The news has prompted Colchester Retail/Business Association to voice concerns for the future viability of town centre business.

The group’s chairman Michelle Reynolds said: “We would look to the council to protect the town centre and the businesses which operate in the town and not put them under threat.

“There are already some tools in the planning laws to protect the town centre and we would expect the council to employ them all.”

The council has previously tried to resist out-of-town shopping proposals for the reasons outlined by Ms Reynolds.

However, new Government planning policies are now forcing councils to look more favourably at developments which offer economic and social benefits.

Iain Wicks, of the Essex Federation of Small Businesses, is also worried about the latest news.

He said: “High streets have been in decline for a long time and the Government is quite clear it doesn’t want to see town centres declining.

“The Government needs to give local authorities real powers within the planning framework to enable them to protect town centres.”

An outline planning application is due to be submitted early next year.

Ahead of that, the Tollgate Partnership is staging public exhibitions, showing what it proposes, at 5 Tollgate Business Park, on December 5, from 2pm until 7pm, and again on December 6 from 10am until 4pm.