Have Your Say on New Plans for Weymouth Gateway
Plans for a revised mixed-use development of New Look’s Mercery Road site in Weymouth are being announced today (7 June 2010) and local people are being invited to attend pubic exhibitions to have their say on the new scheme.
The new plans, which will help retain and create over 1,000 jobs for the local area and deliver an attractive gateway entrance to the town from the new Weymouth relief road, include:
Purpose built modern offices to retain New Look’s existing staff and meet the future needs of the business.
An employment zone with further office and employment space to attract new businesses to the area.
A major new supermarket to increase competition and choice in food shopping.
A hotel and family restaurant providing new facilities for the businesses located on-site and for Weymouth.
Retention of the ambulance station on site.
Extensive landscaping and improved public realm including public art to reflect the importance of this gateway site to the town.
Alastair Miller, CFO from New Look said: “Plans for a mixed-use employment and retail development on this site were approved in 2007, however, these have proved unviable and New Look believes that the new proposals will provide a better, more deliverable development for the site.
“We are already in detailed discussions with some of the UK’s leading supermarkets and hotel/restaurant operators and hope to be in a position to confirm partners in the near future.
“With their backing we believe that the new scheme, and the benefits it can provide to Weymouth, can be delivered swiftly.”
To find out more about the proposals and discuss them with the project team, New Look is encouraging members of the public to attend one of its public exhibitions in Weymouth. These are being held from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday, 24 June in the New Look Mock Shop off Mercery Road and from 10am to 6pm on Tuesday, 29 June in the Weymouth Angling Society Headquarters on Commercial Road.
A newsletter explaining the proposals and advertising the public exhibitions is being delivered to approximately 18,000 households in the town.
Further information can be found on the project website: Weymouthgateway.co.uk
This will be a good thing for Weymouth and the local area. More competition among supermarkets can only be good before people clog up Weymouth itself (as long as it is a different supermarket – preferably an up market one). It will also encourage people to leave their car near where they have done some shopping and then go into Weymouth and enjoy the town and the beach with out causing further congestion by using the Park and Ride. It will persuade more visitors but less traffic in town.
Also it is about time the local politicians did something to get more jobs into the town rather than just watching them leave – some good news in these bad times is what we could do with!