THE PEEL Centre has seen many of our favourite stores come and go over the years.
Just recently we bid farewell to Next before saying hello to Iceland supermarket in The Range.
And the memories made at Hollywood Bowl, the cinema, and Point Bingo at The Point are aplenty.
READ MORE: Shoppers react to Next closing at The Peel Centre
But could the Skimped Hill Lane site change as we know in the years to come?
The News understands it could.
Sources close to the council suggest plans are being put forward to build homes at the shopping centre, while some space will be retained for shops.
When asked to comment on suggestions The Peel Centre could soon see homes built on it, Bracknell Forest Council said: “Whilst the draft local plan states that The Peel Centre is an edge of centre location, this definition is being reviewed in light of responses received following the most recent consultation”.
What does this mean?
In Bracknell Forest’s revised growth strategy — a key document which forms part of the council’s buildings plans up to 2036 — The Peel Centre is included as an ‘edge of centre retail location’.
READ MORE: The Range at The Peel Centre has started selling Christmas items
This means it does not get priority when developments are proposed as town centre sites get greater protection in order to protect their viability.
But as the BFC spokesperson told the News, this definition is now being 'reviewed' because of the responses the council received about The Peel Centre in its consultation on its draft local plan, which took place around this time last year.
What were these responses?
LandSec, the group which owns The Peel Centre, left plenty of responses during the consultation.
Perhaps most telling of all LandSec’s comments, however, was one it left under a section entitled ‘non-allocated sites’.
This section deals with locations such as The Peel Centre, which were not selected for housing development.
READ MORE: You can now do your food shop at The Range at The Peel Centre
Their comment reads: “[The Local Plan] Needs to include the site [The Peel Centre] within the mixed-use allocations.
“[It is] In a sustainable area and has potential for residential [use] as part of mixed-use development.
“[It] Could theoretically meet approximately 2 years of Council’s identified housing requirement.
“[It is] Deliverable within the short to medium term.”
Another comment left by LandSec indicated the site should be included in policy LP9, which lists sites allocated for mixed-use (two or more uses, including potentially homes and retail) in Bracknell Forest.
Office use and leisure services were also hinted at by LandSec in their comments.
What’s next?
According to a report by egi.co.uk, LandSec was looking to sell The Peel Centre for £62 million back in May 2019.
It is unclear what happened to this plan to sell-up, however.
Since then, The Peel Centre has seen Next close down its Skimped Hill store.
About a year before the report, Point Bingo shut down.
And an advert for the site’s former JD store indicates the lease for this unit is only available until November 2021 — barely a year’s time.
The News asked Landsec if it still had plans to sell The Peel Centre, and if the short lease period on the advertised unit as well as the comments left on Bracknell Forest’s draft local plan meant it was preparing to submit plans for housing and other uses at The Peel Centre.
Landsec declined to comment.
After delays to its development due to the pandemic, Bracknell Forest Council’s top team is set to unveil changes to its local plan in November.
It is anticipated this is when The Peel Centre’s future should become clearer.
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