Stane Park Colchester empty unit now set to be demolished

Unit 3, at Stane Leisure Park, has been empty since the site’s completion in 2018.

Despite the site seeing fellow eatery businesses KFC, Starbucks and Nando’s all open, the last unit has remained vacant.

Now, the building is set to be demolished for “redevelopment”, despite the council previously airing concerns demolishing a building and creating a new one would ‘not be climate-friendly’.

Plans had gone into Colchester Council last year which would have seen Burger King open at the empty lot.

Brand - Burger King had eyed up the vacant unit (Image: N/A)

It would have been the global chain’s second site in the city, adding to the existing location in the High Street.

However, the plans were rejected after the council ruled the new restaurant would be “car dominant” and would “not safeguard” pedestrian access across that area of Stane Park.

Following this refusal, agents overseeing the leisure park in Stanway applied for permission to demolish the empty unit, for which permission has now been granted.

The application revealed there has been a “lack of market interest in letting the unit” and its demolition could make way for “comprehensive redevelopment of the site”.

It also explained how site bosses feel flattening to unit to offer prospective occupiers a blank canvas to house their business would be beneficial.

Demolition - the empty unit is now set to be torn down (Image: Google)

“The applicant considers that the site would be more attractive to prospective occupiers as a vacant plot upon which a bespoke unit could be accommodated to meet the requirements of a specific occupier,” it says.

“They are now seeking to demolish the unit in order to facilitate a more comprehensive redevelopment to secure a more desirable format to enable the site to be brought into productive use.”

A demolition plan says the building “appears structurally sound and is being demolished for redevelopment only”.

The application adds: “The demolition of the building will be completed by a professional contractor, with competent site management, who will oversee all the works to ensure that they align with best work practice and mitigate any disturbance to local residents, neighbouring businesses, and the highway network.”

Colchester Council approved the plans and said it must be completed within five years.