Colchester Vineyard Gate plans back on agenda

Ron Levy also said it is unwise for the authority to push ahead with a “questionable” development for Vineyard Gate without a development partner.

On Monday, new images of what the long-awaited Colchester town centre development could look like were released.

They showed a multi-use scheme which includes offices, flats, cafes and shops.

Colchester Council regeneration boss Tim Young (Lab) also said the authority has bought up “most” of the land needed to bring forward the scheme.

But Mr Levy, who is the secretary of Colchester Retail Business Association, said: “This council has set aside millions of pounds of pulling in land for this development and there is still no partner.

“As well as the money for the property, they have no doubt spent a lot of money working with these architects and putting together the images they have sent out of a development which no-one could be interested in developing.”

“If this was a private company, they wouldn’t be doing this - it is so much easier to spend other people’s money.

“This council is spending taxpayers’ money and in my book, it is a gamble which might not pay off.”

Colchester Council had set aside about £5 million to buy land around Osborne Street and Vineyard Gate.

Its portfolio now includes a unit occupied by a minicab firm and a large unit most recently occupied by homeless charity Emmaus.

Mr Young responded to Mr Levy’s criticism, pointing to “a number” of potential development partners.

He also denied the council was gambling with taxpayers’ money and defended putting millions of pounds aside to buy the land required for the development. Mr Young added: “This is not a gamble. The interest is there from a number of parties.

“This is something we believe will be that bit different from what is on offer from the likes of the big chain stores.

“It’s somewhere we would like to see small, independent businesses come to life.

“In the long run, this could be a reason people come to Colchester rather than going to while they are here.

“You can see with Eld Lane how it attracts people into the town and we hope Vineyard Gate would add to that.”

Previous plans put forward for the scheme included a £70 million retail-centred development with a high profile anchor store.

However, those plans were put on ice as a result of the global recession.

Both the council and its development partner, Caddick Construction, signalled renewed interest in the site in 2012 but the pair have since parted ways.