COLCHESTER is at a crossroads, a public inquiry has heard.

On the third day of the hearing into the proposed Tollgate Village retail and leisure park, experts said the town centre can either redevelop and improve what is on offer or struggle in the face of further competition from out-of-town retail sites.

Chris Watts, a development consultant speaking on behalf of Colchester Council, said the proposed fashion shop-orientated development would generate £90million of trade for Tollgate Village, but he said two thirds of that would come from the town centre.

He said: “Its size would be similar to Fosse Park (one of Britain’s biggest out-of-town shopping schemes, in Leicestershire).

“In terms of balanced hierarchy, Tollgate would be of a scale rivalling the town centre.

“That would imbalance the hierarchy and have consequences for the sustainable development of the borough.”

Mr Watts said town centre traders turn over £400million a year, compared with £167million from the existing businesses at Tollgate.

He said Tollgate would increase its share by £90million.

Mr Watts said: “Trade diversion would effectively be from the town centre, not all of it, but two thirds of it.

“It’s more reasonable Colchester would leak from the town centre to support this new space at Tollgate.”

Mr Watts said the viability of the town centre has been assessed and it is presently “relatively healthy”.

He said: “The retail study has identified a significant number of weaknesses, threats and areas for improvement.

“In my judgement, the decline is significant. The town centre is at a crossroads.”

The inquiry is being held following an appeal by the Tollgate Partnership into Colchester Council’s rejection of the Tollgate Village scheme.

Before yesterday’s hearing started, Tollgate Village supporters gathered at the town hall to demonstrae their backing of the out-of-town scheme.

Mr Watts accepted his figures for the town centre did not include empty property or space used on mezzanine or upstairs properties.

This made the town centre relatively larger and stronger than first appeared.

However, Mr Watts said: “If Tollgate goes ahead, the empty units may not be occupied. There would be greater units occupied.”

He described Tollgate as a “sub-regional attraction” but said Colchester was at “the top of the tree” in terms of hierarchy of settlements.

  • The hearing continues