Parkway: it's open!
Seventeen retailers will open for business this morning at the town centre shopping development
AFTER decades of wrangling, discussion, hiccups and three years of construction, Newbury's new shopping centre Parkway will finally open its doors today (Thursday).
Seventeen retailers will open their doors for business at 11am this morning, accounting for about 60 per cent of the retail floor space at the 475,000 sq ft mixed-use retail and residential development.
The redevelopment of Park Way has been mooted since 1963, with plans for a shopping centre first revealed in the 1980s.
Attempts to get projects off the ground fell at the final hurdle before plans were finally approved for the development back in 2006, with construction work eventually starting on site in 2008 but only after a number of potentially deal-breaking issues were ironed out.
And while critics bemoan the concessions made to entice and accommodate the development, the upheaval caused by the construction work and the two separate six-month delays to the project's opening, Newbury will now be home to the last shopping centre development to open in the UK before 2013.
The centre manager, Neil Carter, appointed by developers Standard Life Investments earlier this year, said it was a great vote of confidence for Newbury for the project to come to fruition in the middle of a recession, adding that the development would put Newbury in a great position when the economy picks up.
He said: “We are quite fortunate. We now have our development and it puts us one step ahead of a lot of other places."
The arrival of the shopping centre, which will be home to such stores as Debenhams, H&M and New Look on opening and John Lewis at home in the spring, is set to catapult Newbury into the UK's top 75 towns in terms of retail attractions, ranking Newbury alongside such locations as Salisbury, Leamington Spa and Windsor.
More than 15,000 people are expected to visit the multi-million pound complex each day over the first four days, according to Mr Carter, with a variety of live entertainment, shopping offers and events planned, including the Hallowe'en Hullabaloo on Sunday.
Marshals will be at key points around the town during the opening period to ensure traffic runs smoothly around Newbury, while they will also hand out maps of the town centre, showing the location of all the car parks.
In addition, 10 variable messaging signs have recently been erected around the town to guide people to available car parking spaces, including at the new 550-space underground car park at Parkway.
Meanwhile, the opening of Parkway will also coincide with the pedestrianisation of the town centre, with new bus stops being located on Parkway.
Park Way bridge will also become two-way for buses, taxis and cyclists, controlled by traffic lights.
See the related stories link above for the full itinerary of events and the details of the transport changes.
See next week's NWN for full coverage of the opening weekend events, extended interviews with the key people behind the project and the history of the town centre site.
