While major city centre regenerations continue to gather pace, the upturn in regional economies has meant that these advantages have filtered down into smaller town centres the length and breadth of the country. One area which is set to benefit from an uptick in developer interest is Darfield, Barnsley, where the council has given a scheme set to deliver a new retail park the green light.
Peveril Securities will invest £10 million into transforming the former site of Foulstone School on Nanny Marr Road into a small retail park consisting of a discount food store, five small shops and a parking facility for up to 166 cars. As part of the current plans, 35 new homes will also be created as a means of raising the amount of affordable housing available in the surrounding area.
Managing director at Peveril Securities, Ralph Jones, believes that the unanimous approval of the development by Barnsley Council reflects the wishes of the local community.
He says; “This scheme will provide a much needed boost to local retail facilities as well as a significant number of job opportunities.
“During the consultation process, many residents told us that there wasn’t enough choice in the area, so they had to travel out of the village to carry out most of their shopping.
“This development will solve that issue, providing convenient access to a range of shops all targeted at meeting the needs of the local community.”
Although this is a relatively small development, Peveril Securities has already received a significant degree of interest from potential occupiers and has agreed terms with Greggs, Subway and Heron Foods.
This signifies the amount of enthusiasm for retailer expansion at present in the UK and indicates that the commercial property market is once more approaching the stage where developers will be able to confidently engage in speculative activity even in more locations.
Mr Jones continues; “We are in advanced discussions with a discount retailer regarding the anchor store so hope to be in a position to finalise that deal over the next few weeks.
“We are also close to exchanging contracts on a freehold sale of the residential element, which is likely to offer a mix of tenures including much needed affordable housing.”
Around 80 new permanent jobs are expected to be created as a result of the development, with an as-yet unspecified number of positions to be created during the construction process.
