PROPERTY £30m Feethams leisure development underway 22 squadrons were at the base during WW2


RAF site may transform into mixed-use development


North Lincolnshire Council has report- edly submitted a last-gasp bid to buy RAF Kirton, with plans for a major new busi- ness, housing and leisure development it says will create thousands of jobs. The 305-acre site is being sold off as


personnel have been relocated to nearby RAF Scampton and the local authority has placed an undisclosed bid for the land, the Scunthorpe Telegraph reported. Te deadline for bid for the site – which


opened as an airbase in 1916 and played a key role in WW2 – was noon Friday 29 August, with the sale to the successful bidder to be completed by the end of September. “We are in the final stages of completing


the documentation required to bid for the whole camp,” North Lincolnshire Council leader Liz Redfern told the paper. “If successful, the council will merely act


as an enabler to secure this site for local peo- ple to create employment. We will then seek partnerships to develop the employment sites and housing development. We could have the potential to develop a site that would deliver employment and homes and leisure activities for our residents for years to come.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=h3c4H


Contracts exchanged for Swindon’s Regents Circus


UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) has exchanged contracts to acquire the Regent Circus leisure development in Swindon for £40.5m from Ashfield Land. Te Regent Circus project is in the pro-


cess of being created and will be home to an array of leisure and retail facilities, anchored by a six-screen Cineworld cin- ema and a Morrison’s supermarket. Set out over 97,000sq ſt (9,011sq m), the


leisure development is being viewed as a catalyst for further regeneration of the Wiltshire area, with 94 per cent of facili- ties on offer coming under a pre-let status. Te deal will conclude later this year with


the leisure element set to open in early 2015. Details: http://lei.sr?a=A6G2T


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Work on Darlington’s long- awaited £30m Feethams leisure development is due to begin by the end of September, with developer Terrace Hill announcing that funding is now in place to progress with the full con- struction of the project. Te development is to fea-


ture a nine-screen multiplex Vue Cinema, an 80-bedroom Premier Inn and a number of restaurant chains. Among the restaurants and eateries pres- ent will be a Hungry Horse offering from pub giant Greene King. Funding for the Niven-designed project was


Te developers are planning an opening date for late 2015


expected to come from outside investors, how- ever Terrace Hill recently merged with fellow developer Urban and Civic to raise £120m on the Stock Exchange. As a result, Terrace Hill


now plans to build and finance the project for its own portfolio. Te council believes the impending start proves developers have faith in Darlington and its ability to serve as a profit- maker for both local businesses and investors. Details: http://lei.sr?a=X5D5D


Foster joins row over ‘Boris Island’ airport


Lord Norman Foster – whose architecture practice was behind designs for the ‘Boris Island’ airport discounted by the Airports Commission – has become the latest high-profile figure to vent frustration over the decision. Te panel set up to decide


on the best way to increase air travel capacity around London concluded that the Foster + Partners-designed proposal for a new four-runway air- port in the Tames Estuary had “substantial disadvantages that collectively outweigh its potential benefits.” The Tourism Alliance


Foster + Partners designed plans the airport hub for the Tames Estuary


appeared to be the voice of reason in the aſter- math, with policy director Kurt Janson noting it was important to: “Respect the process and not turn the Commission’s finding into a political football, as this will simply delay the development of additional capacity.” For his part, mayor of London Boris


Johnson – whose vehement support of the project prompted the ‘Boris Island’ moniker – was less phlegmatic. He blasted the Airport Commission’s “myopic” decision and said its report would be consigned to the “long list of vertically filed reports on aviation expansion that are gathering dust on a shelf in Whitehall.” Now Lord Foster – one of the world’s most


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


famous architects and a key figure behind the airport project – has weighed in with his views, joining Boris Johnson in questioning the rel- evance of the Airport Commission. “I predict that Londoners will be scathing


in their condemnation of today’s announce- ment, when confronted with the inevitability of the blighting influence of Heathrow – the risks, noise and environmental impact of over- flying London – and its inability to cope with predicted growth,” said Foster in a statement on the Foster + Partners practice website. “The outcome of this process calls into


question the validity of the Commission.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=5u5V2


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2014


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