Work starts at retail hub

The main car park at Robin Park will be reshaped to accommodate four new retail units as part of plans unveiled earlier this year.

The existing Carphone Warehouse unit is to become a drive-through KFC restaurant with the mobile retailer moving across to the new development.

It will be joined by fellow mobile company EE, Subway and a Costa, according to planning documents submitted to the town hall.

The new units are said to generate 40 jobs in a mix of full and part-time positions although since the plans received approval, KFC has announced its town centre outlet on Standishgate will close before the Robin Park development opens.

Work has now started to outline the development site with the units to be placed either side of the walkway which runs diagonally through the car park from the Loire Drive junction to Next.

The new units are the first of two developments to be built on Robin Park with a hotel and restaurant unit set for outside the Empire Cinema.

The Evening Post revealed details of the plans earlier this year although there has been no indication of when work will begin on the site.

It will comprise a 68-room hotel with Nando’s and Bella Italia outlets earmarked on the ground floor.

It will also see a revamp of parking provision with the number of spaces in front of the cinema reduced from 116 to 62 with the addition of an extra 30 behind the cinema.

This development is said to provide an estimated £800,000 boost per year to the borough’s economy in terms of wages with the creation of dozens of jobs.

Elsewhere on Robin Park, a new gym has opened its doors to the public this week replacing the former Kudos nightclub.

The £2m JD Gyms facility has ended years of speculation about the vast site which closed down in 2002.

The gym, walking distance from a DW Sports equivalent come as a contrast to the retail park’s fast-food offering with a Subway, Nando’s, McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King outlets either already present or future additions.