Outline planning permission granted for leisure development at Intu Lakeside
Intu has secured outline planning consent to create a multi-million leisure development at its Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock.
The proposals build on existing plans for a £180 million expansion of Lakeside’s retail offer that will add between 30 and 40 new stores to the centre.
The new development will include a series of outdoor spaces including a town square featuring a range of leisure and restaurant outlets arranged over two levels. Intu said it has already begun discussions with potential tenants which include a ten-pin bowling alley, family restaurants, a health and fitness centre, a night club, a comedy venue and a hotel.
The public spaces will host a range of events throughout the year such as farmers markets, Christmas markets, street theatre, music shows and live screenings of big sporting events. During a public consultation, 82% of respondents said that they would spend more time at the centre if additional leisure activities were available.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Julie Pears, director of development for Intu, said: “After such overwhelming public support for our plans, we’re delighted to have received planning consent to invest in the centre’s leisure facilities which will attract more people, from a wider area, and give them a reason to stay at the centre for longer.”
Intu said construction could start as early as 2015 which means the leisure development could open in 2017.
The new development will create up to 1,400 permanent new jobs across the leisure, hospitality and retail sectors. In addition, there will be approximately 660 jobs created on site during the two year construction phase.
