Aycliffe Monthly #1 | Page 10

10 | www.aycliffetoday.co.uk Freshwater invested £5m in the first phase of the town centre plan, including the demolition of the former health centre and relocation of the library, while the Aldi store has now been open a year. A further £3m is earmarked for the fourth phase of the plan, which involves the demolition of the shops along Beveridge Arcade and opening up the other end of the town centre, which is expected to start late January, early February 2014. Councillor John Clare added: “It’s fantastic to see all of this work come to fruition and it really is great news for the town. “What’s happening on Aycliffe Business Park is fabulous, businesses are really putting the town on the map, but this (town centre) has got to be the centre for the people of this town, and hopefully these developments will attract other well known retailers to further enhance the shopping experience.” The Labour MP for Sedgefield, Phil Wilson, is based in the town centre, and he said: “With all the great things that are happening in the area, this is just more good news for the town. “We’ve seen Tesco move here in recent years, Aldi opened a new store in the town exactly a year ago this week and there are further works planned to improve the centre even more.” “These improvements have been needed for a long time and it looks so much better” AycliffeToday