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AYCLIFFETODAY
AYCLIFFE TRANSFORMATION
GETS NATIONAL RECOGNITION!
By Martin Walker
Our
town
centre
won
the
Refurbishment/Extension of the Year
(under £5m) award at the British
Council of Shopping Centres’ Gold
Awards this month.
The £2m redevelopment of Aycliffe
town centre was completed just over
a year ago and was marked with a
memorable Christmas lights switch
on with pop singer Amelia Lily.
It was part of the town centre’s
£10m ‘Master Plan’ which began with
the demolition of the old Greenwell
Road buildings and the building of the
new Aldi store.
And more cash will be spent on
redeveloping the Churchill House end
of the town centre with a series of
works.
Meanwhile,
the
town
centre
management are close to announcing
deals with well-known national
retailers which will further boost
occupancy rates in the town.
Our MP Phil Wilson, who attended
the glitzy awards ceremony at the
Grosvenor House Hotel in London, told
Aycliffe Today: “It’s just brilliant news
for the town centre and proves that all
the hard work into the refurbishment
has paid off.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,
but I think we need to remember how
much has been achieved already, and
I’m sure the continued regeneration
of the town centre will attract new
retailers to Aycliffe.”
Aycliffe Mayor Wendy Hillary added:
“I’m absolutely delighted with this
news, and the best thing is there’s
more to come.
“I think we do need to remember
The transformation of Newton Aycliffe town
centre has received national recognition with
a top retail industry award.
how bad the town centre was not
that long ago and just how far the
redevelopment has come in the last
two-to-three years.
“I also think there’s a lot of retail to
chose from in the town centre. From
the big Tesco store we have the likes
of Aldi, Wilko, Select, Boyes and Boots
- all big national retailers.
“The demolition of Churchill House
and other works around there will
enhance the town centre even more
and hopefully that will help to attract
other retailers to the town in the
future.”
Other winners at the BCSC’s event
included British Land and Stanhope’s
Old
Market
shopping
centre
development in Hereford, which was
named New Centre of the Year.
Meadowhall in Sheffield secured the
Sustainability award, Intu’s Lakeside
scheme in Kent was named Catering
and Leisure Destination of the Year,
while Woking Shopping was named
Refurbishment/Extension of the Year
(over £5m).
Tom Meager, president of the BCSC
and head of property at Primark, said:
“The quality of the entries received
shows how the leaders of our industry
continue to innovate, improve and
develop UK retail property for today’s
and, more importantly, tomorrow’s
shopper.”
The first phase of the Aycliffe town
centre ‘Master Plan’ redevelopment
was Tesco and the relocation of the
library.
The second phase included the
demolition of the old library and
surrounding buildings and the
construction of the new Aldi store.
Phase III works completed in 2013
included:
• The demolition of the existing ramp
leading to the first floor/upper level
Beveridge Way.
• The demolition of the Boyes ramp
from the roof car park to the landing
of the Beveridge Way ramp.
• The demolition of the spiral stair.
• Removal of the heavy canopies
to the elevation of Beveridge Way
facing southeast.
• The removal of the existing trees,
containers and street furniture.
•
Take up the existing concrete
paving flags in programmed
stages.
Followed by:
• Construction of new robust hard
surface finishes to Beveridge Way,
co-ordinating tree planting, lighting
and street furniture layout.
• Construction of a new ramp from
the rooftop car park to the first floor
level centre management suite and
shops and making good work to
parapet wall, car park surface and
the first floor level balustrade.
• Construct new external spiral stair
and make good first floor level
balustrade.
•
Refurbishment works to the
elevations of the retail blocks to
both sides of Beveridge Way.
• Improved street lighting
• New street furniture incorporating
local artwork
See our pictures (right) which show
the transformation of Aycliffe Town
Centre.