Planned £5 million redevelopment of Tewkesbury’s Spring Gardens and Oldbury Road car parks revealed

Plans to spend £5 million on revamping a long-neglected part of Tewkesbury town centre have been given the go-ahead.Members of the borough council have approved proposals to redevelop and regenerate two central neighbouring sites at Spring Gardens and Oldbury Road, following the planned demolition of Cascades leisure centre this summer.It is due to be flattened after the council’s new £7.5 million leisure centre, being built within the grounds of the council’s headquarters in Gloucester Road, opens on May 30.The council owns both Spring Gardens, which contains Cascades and a large car park, and the Oldbury Road car park site.Its plan now is to apply to itself for planning permission to have a retail development at the heart of the site. The hope is that it will be occupied by a high-end retailer.The application, due to be submitted this summer, will also seek permission for some residential development and a vastly enhanced public space.Council bosses intend to employ architects and developers to carry out the building work on their behalf. They said the authority had been carrying out research and working with developers for a year on the project.The council will borrow most of the £5 million, though it will use some of its revenue budget and hopes to get grant funding too.It believes that it will end up with a highly desirable mixed-use development that will embrace the historic character of Tewkesbury.