A £14MILLION revamp of the former R Sinclair Transport site on Davies Road will begin early next month to create a new retail park and bring more than 100 jobs to the town.
Landowners Ashfield Land confirmed construction would get underway on Monday, October 8 on the vast 41,500 sq ft scheme which will see Aldi, TK Maxx and Home Bargains take the main units on offer.
The new ‘Sinclair Retail Park’ is expected to be complete next summer. Alongside the main development, Ashfield Land will finance the much-needed and long awaited pedestrian crossing on Davies Road.
Robert Birch, lead director of Ashfield Land’s Birmingham office, said: “We look forward to delivering this £14 million investment which brings some big brands to Evesham and will create more than 115 new jobs.”
The new shopping site will be built by Midlands based Benniman Construction who were also responsible for the new premises for R Sinclair Transport at the nearby Vale Park.
As the Observer has previously reported, family-owned R Sinclair Transport, which was established by Ron Sinclair in 1947, had their plans approved by Wychavon District Council in 2016 to move from Davies Road to the business park.
RST has moved to their new 80,000 sq ft site, safeguarding about 40 existing jobs and providing the opportunity for future expansion of this long-established business.
The revamp was given the green light last summer despite concerns from planning chiefs about the detrimental impact it would have on Evesham’s town centre which has seen the departure of a number of high profile names in recent years.
Coun Gerry O’Donnell said: “I don’t want to see people driving out of town, parking their cars up off Davies Road to use this retailer. I want to see shops open in the town centre.”
But Coun Frances Smith backed the scheme and said: “I understand completely the arguments regarding the viability of the town centre, but sadly Evesham does not lend itself to attracting larger stores within its centre,”
“I would suggest there are no suitable sites of this size within the town centre.”
