Although many retail developments of late have included leisure aspects, few have contained the scope of leisure space of the intended Five Towns Park near Castleford in Yorkshire.
Developer Lateral Property Group has this week submitted plans to the local authority which would bring not only a new retail park to the area, but also a purpose-built stadium for Rugby League club Castleford Tigers, funded by the retail scheme.
The development, just off junction 32 of the M62, will cost around £135 million to complete should planning permission be granted. High Street staple Next has already confirmed it would be interested in anchoring the development, in a purpose built 6,500 square metre unit which would allow the brand to showcase its full range of Home and Garden stock.
Along with the Next store and the 10,000 capacity stadium, plans also include a 50 acre country park, a new supermarket, a number of “high quality” retail units and a petrol station. Lateral Property Group forecast that the construction process and the ensuing tenants would create around 2,000 jobs within the Castleford and Glasshoughton areas.
Managing director of Lateral Property Group, Philip Lunn, says; “The news that Next has signed up to the proposed Five Towns Park is a massive vote of confidence to the Five Towns area.
“Having secured Next, we are in ongoing discussions with other high quality brands who are interested in Five Towns Park and we expect to make further retailer announcements soon.
“We are confident that our planning application makes a very strong case for the development which, if approved, will provide 2,000 much needed permanent new jobs for the area, along with much wider socio-economic benefits in the form of the community stadium, country park and major transport improvements.”
The idea for Five Towns Park was first proposed by Lateral Property Group in March, and since then the developer has held a number of public consultations in order to determine whether the project would prove popular with the local community. As a result, the plans for the overall site have changed several times, with this application garnering widespread approval from local residents.
Should planning permission be granted, Lateral Property Group hopes that work will be able to go ahead as early as summer 2015 and has already enlisted Yorkshire firm GMI Construction Group to act as main contractor. Based on the proposed timescale, this would mean the park would open for business in 2017.
Mr Lunn concludes; “We have received over 1,400 feedback responses with 86 per cent of those in support of the proposals – we would like to thank everyone for their feedback.
“As a result of the consultation, we have made a number of amendments to the scheme, such as introducing local match day parking controls, improving public transport links to the site and putting a roof on the north stand of the stadium.”
