ABBEY STREET MAKEOVER IS PUT ON HOLD
A LARGE chunk of the plan to regenerate part of Nuneaton town centre has been put on the back-burner by council bosses.
It has been revealed that Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council is no longer actively progressing with all of the much-awaited makeover of Upper Abbey Street.
The Town Hall is forging ahead with its vision to secure development on the Abbey Street car park, known to many as the Co-op car park.
But the plans for the former Ritz and the old Kingsholme pub and the ex Co-op car park are not part of this.
It is no secret that the council only owns the car park land, with the pub and former Gala Bingo Hall having private owners, and this is understood to have played a part in the decision.
According to a report that is to be put before councillors next week, it states: “Work to secure development of Abbey Street car park, former Gala Bingo Hall & Kingsholme PH site. Original aim to develop all three sites in one scheme proved to be unviable.
“Now actively progressing Abbey Street car park only. Watching brief for the other two sites. Currently assessing developer and occupier demand.”
The news is a blow to the project, which has been on the cards for some years.
Developing the Upper Abbey Street area has been high on the council’s agenda for a number of years but no projects have ever got off the ground.
But, at the end of the last year, the Town Hall set itself a target of getting a developer and investor on board by Christmas this year to finally get the ball rolling.
Only last month, Cllr Dennis Harvey hinted that there should soon be some good news to report on the plan to regenerate the area, but made no mention that the council was focusing on the car park alone.
Speaking at the Council Tax setting meeting, Cllr Harvey said “As far as the present situation is concerned, detailed negotiations, which are commercially sensitive, have been underway for some time in relation to the Abbey Street site. As soon as we can finalise details with interested parties we shall do so, but this will be done in the correct manner.”