Taking shape Construction growing at designer outlet
DRIVERS travelling along the A46 towards the M5 at Tewkesbury will have noticed that there is plenty of construction work going on near land close to Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Railway station and Ashchurch Business Centre.
The site of Cotswolds Designer Outlet is full of cranes, building trucks and new homes being built close to Dobbies Garden Centre.
The new retail park is set to be the M5’s answer to Bicester Village with more than 90 shops and plenty of discounts all year round.
The shopping centre is expected to attract almost 10 million people living within 90 minutes of the retail park. Although the park will not be ready to open until Spring 2025, it is set to offer discounts of between 30 per cent and 70 per cent.
The site is easily reached by roads, including the M5, and Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Railway Station is within a five-minute walk from the site, as well as a new shuttle bus service which will connect with the town centre.
The outlet is part of Robert Hitchins’ long-term vision for this 300-acre site and follows the opening last year of the flagship Dobbies Garden centre, with a Waitrose Foodhall and cafe.
Robert Hitchins has also completed a £20million investment into crucial infrastructure and connectivity works in the location, which has helped to pave the way for the new homes currently being delivered in the area.
As well as the new garden centre and retail park, the new pictures also show the ongoing construction of around 114 new homes by Persimmon Homes.
The decision to build the housing was approved by Tewkesbury Borough Council in 2023, which will form a 850home development on the outskirts of town. Persimmon have said that the Fiddington Fields development will be “for first-time buyers and those living in the area, aimed at those struggling to get on the housing ladder.” The new housing will include 23 one-bedroom units, 32 two-bedroom units, 44 three-bedroom units and 15 four-bedroom units - which Persimmon says will have “a network of open spaces and green corridors” connecting them. A new primary school is planned and more than a quarter of the homes built will be transferred to a local housing association.