Green light tipped for job-creating retail centre

Plans for the development of a new retail centre expected to create almost 2,000 jobs in Lincolnshire have been recommended for approval ahead of a planning committee meeting later this week.Oldrid & Co. Ltd are seeking outline approval from South Kesteven District Council to build a designer outlet centre on land at Gonerby Moor in Grantham.The centre will extend to approximately 220,000 sq ft and will comprise 107 units, including retail floorspace, café/restaurant space and storage.An existing garden centre will be demolished and replaced with a new, smaller unit over two storeys, while a tourist Information and visitor centre will provide information to visitors to the site.A training academy facility will be built to provide learning and development programmes in association with educational establishments and businesses.The proposed masterplan illustrates a total of 1,979 parking spaces on the site. This will be provided by means of surface car parking (959 spaces). A multi-storey car park is also proposed, consisting of 1,020 spaces across four levels.It is anticipated that the project will create more than 1,700 additional retail and leisure related jobs, in addition to 240 jobs during the construction phase. The scheme will also protect the 700 existing jobs on-site.