The Peel Centre set to welcome new store at former Next site

A planning application has been lodged to convert part of Unit 4a -- the unit where Next was based until it closed earlier this year -- into space exclusively for the sale of food.

Documents attached to the application indicate applicants want to use 30 per cent of the floor space at the 1,862 square metre site for this purpose.

Food could start to be sold at the former Next store in The Peel Centre. Image courtesy of Rob Francis

According to the plans, allowing this move would ‘enable the reoccupation of the unit’.

READ MORE: What happened to Next at The Peel Centre?

No other changes to the unit are proposed as part of this application, however.

LandSec, the owners of The Peel Centre, declined to comment when asked which retailer was moving into the empty space.

Food could start to be sold at the former Next store in The Peel Centre. Image courtesy of Rob Francis

Full details of the planning application can be found by entering planning reference 21/00139/FUL at planapp.bracknell-forest.gov.uk.

Bracknell Forest Council is currently considering the application, which appeared on the authority’s planning page earlier this week.

READ MORE: Bosses respond to rumours of Home Bargains moving to The Peel Centre

This proposal comes as the latest development in a busy few weeks for the popular shopping centre.

Food could start to be sold at the former Next store in The Peel Centre

Last week it was revealed Bracknell Forest Council is eyeing the site to build 900 homes over the next two decades.

But LandSec said it has ‘no plans’ at this time to redevelop The Peel Centre.

The News understands LandSec re-assured its current retailers about the site’s future in the wake of the council’s plans.