A Burntwood councillor has welcomed news that a new town shopping centre could be built – but warned that local businesses need to be supported in the short-term too.
Cllr Sue Woodward made her comments after the news that the landowners of the current Sankey’s Corner shopping centre, Macnhester-based Capital Properties NW, have gone into receivership
She raised the issue of fears for the retail future of the area at a recent meeting of Lichfield District Council and was reassured by leader, Cllr Mike Wilcox, who also hinted that progress was being made towards the development of a new shopping centre.
Cllr Wilcox explained:
“We are in detailed discussions with a major landowner at Burntwood and retailers in order to deliver the town centre that Burntwood deserves and whilst I cannot give any further details for commercial reasons at this stage, I hope that I will be in a position to share more details at the next Council meeting [in September].”
Cllr Woodward said:
“There’s been a fair amount of scaremongering about this but I want to make sure that Lichfield District Council is doing all it can to allay people’s fears and to ensure the future viability of the shopping centre. The Council Leader gave his assurances on this so I shall be following up on what action they are now taking.
“The new town centre proposals were the top priority for local residents in consultations by Burntwood Town Council on the new Town Strategy. Let’s hope that we’ll soon hear some good news for the town, but in the meantime we still need to make sure current businesses are supported both in the short-term and in the longer-term too.”