MULTI-MILLION pound plans to transform Colchester’s Cowdray Centre have been revealed after years of waiting.

Owner F&C Commercial Property Trust wants to build 154 homes on the part of the centre which has sat empty since it was hit by fire in 2006.

Proposals for a doctors’ surgery, 336 car parking spaces and a cycle path linking the houses with North Station and High Woods Country Park are also included.

The plans were revealed at a consultation yesterday.

Maurice Fitzgerald, development director at F&C Reit, which is publishing the proposals on behalf of the trust, said: “The future of the site is something we have been looking at for a very long time.

“It is a brownfield site, is close to the town centre and train station and is sustainable, so it ticks all the boxes for housing.

“Something needs to happen to it and this is our proposal.”

Part of the centre was demolished in 2008 after it was decimated by fire two years earlier.

It has been empty ever since, with rumours at one point Morrisons was keen to open a store there, but the plans never materialised.

The latest proposals would not affect stores on the west of the centre, including the Range, Go Bananas and Pickfords, which would remain.

However, warehouses and industrial units to the east would be knocked down to make way for the scheme, with 13 newunits built as part of the new development.

Mr Fitzgerald said: “We have tried to look at a number of alternative uses for the site, including retail and supermarkets, but for one reason or another we have never managed to secure a user.

It really is as simple as that.

“The businesses using the warehouses and industrial units are there on short-term leases because of any future development we were looking at.

“If someone wanted to relocate to the newunits from the current ones it is possible and there are places for them.”

Mr Fitzgerald said it was entirely possible a provider would want to come forward and open a medical centre which could offer more options to residents such as minor surgery.

F&C claims traffic to the sitewould be reduced in comparison to if it was fully commercial.

It is not known exactly how much the proposed development could cost, but it is thought it will be millions of pounds.

An outline planning application is expected to be submitted to Colchester Council within the coming weeks.

If given the green light, more detailed proposals to set out the exact number of homes, car parking spaces and layout of the site will be submitted.

 

 

TRADERS have said they may have to look elsewhere when their units are demolished.

F&C Reit said those using the warehouses to the east of the Cowdray Centre will be given the opportunity to move to newer premises once they are built.

But traders said they did not know if they would be able to afford the change.

Carl Saville, of Crossfit Colchester, has had his gym at the Cowdray Centre for more than two years. He said: “I have been looking to expand our gym and have been trying to get a bigger unit at the centre, but we keep missing out.

“The proposals look great, but I think the price increase for businesses wanting to move to one of the new units will be massive. There will also be a gap between demolishing where we are now and the new units being built.”