Plans have been approved for North Star leisure scheme including ski slopes plus the UK’s largest IMAX cinema.
Outline planning permission for the project has been unanimously approved by Swindon Borough council.
The £270 million leisure development will be carried out by SevenCapital, a Birmingham-based developer. The company took over the project back in July after it had stalled several times.
The 500,000 square foot development is being called North Star. The proposal includes a huge snow and ski centre and a 14-screen IMAX cinema with the largest screen in the UK. It will also feature a 130-bed hotel, a new Hollywood Bowl plus other leisure attractions including trampolining and climbing. A large number of new restaurant and retail units will also be featured.
The proposal also includes updates and repairs to the nearby Oasis Leisure Centre with its swimming pool.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for Swindon,” says Garry Perkins, cabinet member for regeneration.
“It’s a massive regeneration,” says SevenCapital Director John Watkins. “It will have the best ski slopes in the country, the largest IMAX in the country, the best bowling in the country and a whole heap of restaurants and retail units to go with it.”
Councillors raised some concerns about traffic, alongside worries about the environmental impact of the development. However the plans were given outline planning permission.
“This is the first and most important step to delivering this much-anticipated scheme for Swindon,” says Watkins. “Now we have outline planning granted, the work really begins on getting all the detail filled in ready to submit detailed planning in the New Year, after which we can get to work on making this project a reality.”
Work is expected to begin on the North Star development in 2018. It is hoped it will launch by 2021.
Image courtesy of SevenCapital.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-41988611
