DEVELOPERS of a major regeneration project in Weymouth have submitted revisions to their plans which they say could create 285 new jobs.

The changes have been made to the Weymouth Gateway project on Mercery Road. The Weymouth Gateway site was cleared eight years ago at the time permission was granted for Sainsbury, but has remained vacant ever since. It is immediately behind the New Look offices on the corner of the site.

The site includes the expansion to Medisave and the new Aldi store.

LondonMetric Property Plc and Avercet Property Ltd submitted proposals in September last year for three ‘big box’ retail warehouse units, a standalone unit for a DIY and building supplies operator, and four restaurants or coffee shops. In a revised plan, they are proposing to replace one of the units with a serviced plot to be marketed for employment use, and set aside another area as ‘future development land’.

The developers say that Aldi and the expansion to Medisave will provide approximately 30 new jobs each. In addition to this, the developers have had commitments from Costa, McDonalds, Dunelm and B&M to the revised planning application. These companies are expected to provide an estimated 225 new jobs between them.

Additional jobs will also be created through the occupation of the last remaining unit, while further jobs could also be generated on the site, with a Class B 'oven ready' plot and additional land marked for 'future development'.

Chris Newns, Director of Avercet, said: "This is an area of land that has been left undeveloped for ten years.

"This development will probably bring £30-50million of internal investment as well as all the jobs that come with this. Weymouth has always suffered because Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester all seem to come first, so to bring a development like this to the town is very exciting.

"Bringing jobs to the town is the first step to improving the economic situation

"The businesses in the town centre have always said that keeping people in the town is the problem. This development creates jobs that young people need and are lacking in the town because it's not just young people, it's young families as well and they need flexible and year-round jobs."

"This is the gateway, the first impression people get when they come to Weymouth and at the moment it is a muddy field."

Tom Pinder of LondonMetric, said: "We pride ourselves on working positively with local communities we’re proposing to invest in, to ensure that we’re providing developments that are appropriate, viable and aligned with local needs.

"In this case, although many years of marketing the site as employment land has failed to attract an occupier, we heard the strong desire locally for us to try again to promote some of our site in a bid to attract different types of employers to the area.

"To this end, we have re-drawn the scheme to reduce the retail space and instead create an “oven-ready” plot with access that would help fast-track development for an alternative (Class B) employer, should one come forward."

Tom Pinder of LondonMetric, said that they hope the new approach wold help fast track he development.

He said: “We pride ourselves on working positively with local communities we’re proposing to invest in, to ensure that we’re providing developments that are appropriate, viable and aligned with local needs.

“In this case, although many years of marketing the site as employment land has failed to attract an occupier, we heard the strong desire locally for us to try again to promote some of our site in a bid to attract different types of employers to the area.

“To this end, we have redrawn the scheme to reduce the retail space and instead create an “oven-ready” plot with access that would help fast-track development for an alternative (Class B) employer, should one come forward.”

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