Plans for homes and new shops in city

Highcross could be expanded under new plans

HUNDREDS of homes will be built next to a multi-million pound redevelopment surrounding the Highcross.

Nearly 300 homes will be built next to the Leicester city centre shopping centre on the site of a former brewery in Vaughan Way as part of a £40-mil- lion complex.

Shops will also be incorporated into the plans which will be developed by Sowden Group before real estate management firm Long Harbour takes over at All Saints Brewery.

It lies within Leicester’s strategic regeneration area and is opposite the new extension of Highcross shopping centre.

Sowden and Long Harbour said the scheme will provide much-needed housing in the city for the private rental sector.

It will help the city council meet its Government-set targets for delivering housing.

There have been numerous plans for the area near All Saints’ Church.

An earlier proposal included a Decathlon store with a rooftop football pitch and 150 flats.

That idea was dropped after the retailer decided to focus its investment in the south of England.

The most recent plan includes a block of up to 12 storeys. It was revised by the developer after concerns were raised by English Heritage about its impact on the church.

A Long Harbour spokesman said: “Following a comprehensive redesign with a specific focus on the private rented sector, a planning consent was granted by Leicester City Council in March.

“The scheme includes 297 residential units, associated ground floor retail units, car parking spaces and a private residents’ amenity space as well as rooftop gardens and a sympathetic green buffer with All Saints’, the adjacent church.”

Construction on the site is expected to start in the early summer.

Roy Coley, managing director of developer Sowden Group, has previously said: “This will be a massive investment in this part of town.

“I hope it will encourage other developers to press on with schemes for nearby sites.”