A £14MILLION revamp of the former R Sinclair Transport site on Davies Road has been revealed with a new retail park expected to create more than 100 jobs.
New landowners Ashfield Land confirmed Aldi and TK Maxx have signed up to the new ‘Sinclair Retail Park’ development as well as Costa coffee with one more unit available.
The multi-million pound revamp will see the new retail park developed on the site currently occupied by R Sinclair Transport opposite Morrisons.
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.
Ashfield Land has purchased the site from RST and, with about 75 per cent of the scheme already pre-let, are expected to begin building on the land as soon as R Sinclair move into their new premises.
RST is moving to a new 80,000 sq ft site currently under construction at nearby Vale Park, safeguarding about 40 existing jobs and providing the opportunity for future expansion of this long-established business.
Building work is estimated to begin on the Davies Road site in October and once complete in August 2019, Sinclair Retail Park will create approximately 115 new job opportunities.
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.”
Robert Birch, lead director of Ashfield Land, said: “I am delighted Ashfield Land is investing in this exciting new £14million scheme, which will deliver an enhanced retail offer as well as significant new job opportunities and also acts as a catalyst for the long awaited relocation of RST to Vale Park.”
The remaining available space within the scheme, which extends to about 11,000 sq ft, is now being marketed by joint letting agents Ramsdens and Edgerley Simpson Howe.
* What do you think? E-mail [email protected] with your views
