PROPERTY Croydon’s £1bn development given go ahead


Australian developer Westfield has secured per- mission to build a £1bn (US$1.8bn, €1.21bn) mega retail and leisure facility in Croydon, London aſter the firm was granted approval from the local council and mayor of London Boris Johnson. Te project is being developed by Westfield


Te iconic museum’s grounds are to be redesigned


Shortlist revealed for Natural History Museum works


Following the launch in September of a competition to redesign the grounds of London’s Natural History Museum, five teams have been chosen from the entrants and invited to submit their proposals. Amongst them are Bjarke Ingels Group


(BIG), with Martha Schwartz Partners (landscape); Grant Associates, with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (archi- tect); and Niall McLaughlin Architects, with Kim Wilkie (landscape). Also included are Land Use Consultants


(LUC), with Design Engine (architect) and Stanton Williams Architects, with Bradley-Hole Schoenaich Landscape Architects (landscape). Commenting, museum director Dr Michael


Dixon said: “We are delighted with the archi- tectural community’s response and are eager to see the design proposals that aim to enhance the world-class setting of the Museum. Details: http://lei.sr?a=D4p7h


Two new swimming pools for Redbridge by 2014


Redbridge Council in east London is to provide two new swimming pools in the Borough during 2014. One will be a temporary 12m facility in


the Wanstead area for 12 weeks and used as a teaching pool for residents. Te other will be a 25m pool built in


the south of the borough, part of a design which also incorporates a fitness studio, gym and library. A council spokesman said: “We have


over 1,000 people on our lists waiting to learn to swim and the Wanstead pool will help them learn an essential life skill. “We hope to extend the time it will be


available so that more people can benefit.” Some work still needs to be done


to finalise the detail of the 25m pool; the council hopes to announce its exact location in the new year. Details: http://lei.sr?a=y4b9h


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with UK partner Hammerson, which owns the Brent Cross shopping centre in north London. To be completed by 2018, the transformation


of the Whitgiſt Centre is thought to have the potential to create 5,000 new jobs and entice 40 million people to visit the area each year. Plans include the use of 1.5 million sq ft


(139,354sq m) of development space, with the new facility also helping to rejuvenate the nearby Centrale shopping centre, which has planning consent for refurbishment. The project is part of a wider Croydon


Partnership programme, which is looking to transform the local area. Support comes from Johnson as he seeks to


help develop the town, which was at the centre of the 2011 London riots, with the new mega- mall potentially spurring the creation of 600 new homes. Te site is also set to feature leisure and


office space, in combination with room for leading retailers. The project was approved by Croydon Council’s Strategic Planning Committee, despite


Te £1bn project is expected to be completed by 2018


pockets of resistance – mostly notably from rival developer and property firm Minerva. Minerva owns a small lot on the site and


made clear that it did not want to sell its land, having made a late objection to the scheme, which claimed that Westfield did not appear to include enough parking to allow for further regeneration schemes in the area. However, the objection was dismissed. “In terms of scale, what we’re delivering here


is in total larger than what we currently have at either Stratford or west London,” said John Burton, Westfield’s director of development. The retail centre will be Westfield’s third


in London, with other developments also located in Hammersmith and Stratford. Details: http://lei.sr/?a=h3m6Z


Morecambe theme park plans revealed


The site of the former Frontierland theme park in Morecambe could be redeveloped in a multi- million pound scheme to create a retail and leisure park with an hotel and restaurant. De velopers Opus


North and the site’s own- ers, supermarket chain Morrisons, have been sounding out the town’s residents for their opin- ions on the future of the site, a move which included the plans for the project being displayed at the Morecambe Superbowl at the end of November ahead of their being put before Lancaster City Council for consideration. Formerly known as West End Amusement


Te theme park in Morecambe is to become a retail and leisure development


numbers fell to the point where the park was closed at the end of the 2000 season. Morrisons bought the site in 2001 and the


Park, Frontierland was the result of a 1986 revamp of the site by owners the Tompson family. Despite the installation of a number of new attractions over the following years, visitor


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


rear of it is now occupied by a number of out- let centres. Te front section, which is still home to the park’s iconic Polo Tower, is the subject of the current proposed development. Details: http://lei.sr?a=j5n4m


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2013


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