Detailed plans to “reinvigorate” Billingham town centre have been unveiled, with the owner saying it could bring in 120 full-time jobs and £2.6mn in earnings for locals.
Evolve Estates Ltd has asked for full planning permission to demolish the “tired and dated” West Precinct, buildings on Queensway and the Kingsway West multi-storey car park, erect a new building on Queensway, change a Town Square building’s use for Wetherspoons, and create a new, surface-level car park. It has asked for outline planning permission for another new building on Queensway with up 6,000sqm floor space, with “public realm/landscaping improvements”.
Evolve says the current proposals mark the first phase of Billingham town centre’s redevelopment. It will mean less shop space in the town centre, but the developer contends it will focus on empty and near-derelict buildings for “significant, tangible and wide-ranging regeneration”, bringing the town centre up to modern standards and attracting shoppers, residents and businesses.
Opportunities
It says the plans will have “substantial” economic impact, with the potential to create 120 full-time jobs once up and running, plus “significant local employment” during construction. It argues the changed space will be a “high-quality environment which will make a meaningful contribution to employment and wage generation”, attracting people into town with “spin-off benefits” for regeneration and supporting strong, vibrant communities.
Knocking down the 1960s-built West Precinct shopping and office blocks will make a “flat and level development site”, making way for 160 homes, according to the proposals. Plans for these homes will be prepared next year.
The plans say a three-storey building on Queensway will be demolished “to provide a new, modern and fit-for-purpose premises for Boyes” on two levels. Another three-storey Queensway building will be replaced by a new commercial unit likely to have “multiple tenants and uses” under the scheme, with discussions underway with prospective tenants “including retailers, medical uses and other commercial operations”.
The proposals say the dilapidated 1960s Kingsway West two-storey car park will be replaced by a 182-space car park with new pedestrian crossings. The Half Moon Inn JD Wetherspoon pub will be moved to a “prevalent three-storey commercial building” on the corner of Town Square and Queensway.
The plans also include “significant improvements and alterations” to existing “tired-looking” Queensway and Town Square units. New locations for the Astronaut pub and the Billingham Boxing Academy will be part of a separate planning application.
The firm has applied to move plans forward for demolitions, refurbishments and changes to a 3.9-hectare area. “The proposed redevelopment is intended to reinvigorate Billingham town centre, making it a more attractive, modern and fit-for-purpose location which meets the needs of local residents, businesses and visitors,” says a planning and economic statement from Evolve’s agent Savills.
“This will be facilitated through the demolition of largely vacant, tired and dated buildings within the centre which detract from its vitality and viability, most notably West Precinct, including Kingsway House and Queensway House. Prior to the demolition of West Precinct, existing businesses will be relocated to alternative areas of the centre to ensure continuity of trade.”
It adds: “Although the proposal will result in both a gross and net loss of retail floorspace within the centre, it is clear that the proposed development will have significant, tangible and wide-ranging regeneration benefits, which will improve the vitality and viability of Billingham town centre over the medium to long term. Furthermore, the existing areas of Billingham town centre which are the subject of this application are largely vacant, underutilised buildings which are becoming derelict and significantly detract from the centre’s vitality and viability.
“Significant redevelopment is necessary to bring the centre up to modern standards that will attract new commercial operators, increase consumer footfall and dwell time, provide the opportunity for social interaction and generally create an environment where residents and visitors can shop, work, meet and live.”
It says: “Like many town centres around the country, Billingham has not been immune to the changing face of the retail industry and the related challenges of declining footfall and consumer activity experienced in recent years. As a result of that background, large areas of Billingham town centre remain vacant and in need of significant regeneration.
“The decline of the high street has resulted in councils around the UK being forced to consolidate retail floorspace and incorporate a modern range of other commercial, residential and community uses in order to ensure that centres stay competitive and attract investment. This proposal is made in order to bring about the first phase of the redevelopment of Billingham town centre.”
It says Evolve worked on the redevelopment with Stockton Council, which received £20m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund in November last year, the same week Evolve reached agreement on buying the centre from previous owners St Modwen. Earlier this year council leaders agreed to buy, demolish and clear the West Precinct, Queensway South block and former library site, move tenants and build about 160 new homes along with about 2,000sqm of commercial floorspace and various improvements.
Stockton Council’s leader Councillor Bob Cook said today: “We are really pleased to see our shared ambitions for the future of Billingham take an important step forward with the submission of this application, which will now go through the usual planning process.”
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