Bedford Borough Council is working with site owners to develop a plan for the vacant former Beales and Debenhams buildings in Bedford that will bring smaller units and homes to the “important town centre location”.
A report presented to the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday (17 November) said the council is engaging with key stakeholders to formulate a “holistic, joined-up” approach to the complex assets within the site.
Councillor James Weir (Conservative, Kempston Rural) asked who the partners are and if there is a timescale for the project.
Patrick Lyons, manager for the Bedford Town Deal, replied that the asset owners for the former Beales building are Panther Securities.
He added that the former Debenhams building is owned by a foreign bank after the previous owners went bust.
The portfolio holder for town centres and planning, councillor Henry Vann (LibDems, De Parys), said: “We are jointly funding a feasibility study which looks at what could happen across that site, I think that’s really significant in terms of their engagement with the council at this stage,” he said.
“Hopefully there will be something, because until you’ve done a feasibility study there’s nothing to talk about.
“But there will be something to talk about soon I hope,” he said.
Bedford Mayor, Dave Hodgson, said: “Basically that the units as you’d expect for Debenhams and Beales are much too big.
“The department store has gone, so how do you divide that up?
“The upstairs is likely to be a residential element to actually make it stack up [financially].
“But if you look at the depth of the buildings it means a substantial amount of work, because you wouldn’t have a very narrow, very thin, residential apartment with a window at the end, you’re going to do substantially more work than that.
“There’s obviously the library [attached to the Beales building] and I think the one thing we’d said is that there must remain a town centre library.
“But we’ve got to make it stack up somehow, and that’s what we’re talking to the landlords or their representatives about.
“As soon as we’re able to, we’ll share some of those things about their [proposals].
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the area but it is a substantial piece of work.
“Key things though to remember – smaller units, there will be a library, and there’s bound to be residential,” he said.
In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a spokesperson for Panther Securities said:”We appreciate that this is an important site, not only for us but the town as a whole, and so it is important that we work closely with the council to ensure the best outcome for all parties.
“As with most things of this nature it is not straightforward and will take some time to fully resolve, but we are confident that given the engagement of the council to date and their continued involvement, we will be able to make this site better utilised for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
