Staff take nostalgic look at shops ahead of redevelopment

STAFF at Yate Shopping Centre have been looking back at its history as they prepare for it to be redeveloped.

Work is about to start to replace the centre’s main Tesco supermarket with a bigger and more modern store.

A new bus station will also be built, the long-closed Swan pub knocked down and car parking re-arranged. Tesco customers will do their shopping in a temporary store while the work takes place, with the company and shopping centre bosses determined that it will be business as usual.

As the countdown starts for the first-phase preparatory works, managers have also been taking a look back at how the centre developed, with the help of a collection of scrap books.

Photographs, press cuttings and promotional material have been carefully pasted into the books over the decades, showing how the centre has changed since the early days.

Planning consent for the original shopping centre came in 1963 and it initially consisted of Tesco and Woolworth’s stores on South Walk, with about 75 other shop units, including a post office.

Heralded as Britain’s first US-style out-of-town shopping mall, it was opened in a blaze of publicity in 1965 by top radio comedian Ted Ray and

Expansion came in 1975 with the current Tesco, built on the eastern side of the centre, which has six car parks around its periphery.

Later changes included installing a continuous white canopy above the shop fronts but despite the complex being more attractive, with large numbers of flowers filling the centre in summer, managers felt it had become dated and needed a change.

The new Tesco Extra will be built with car parking underneath the shopping area, with construction scheduled to avoid the busy Christmas periods.

Initial work on the bus station, parking and pub demolition starts next week and will last three months.

Contractors ISG Pearce will start knocking down Tesco in early February, with the first customers due to be welcomed into the new store before Christmas 2011.

David Bevan, Tesco development executive, said: “It will be sad to see the old store go but the new, bigger store will be a 21st century model.

“It will be very much more sustainable and will offer local residents a more comfortable shopping environment with greater choice and variety.

“It will be the anchor of Yate Shopping Centre and will offer local traders the opportunity to capitalise on the increased footfall.”

Shopping centre manager Andy Lowrey said: “These works will be one of the most exciting phases of the centre’s history as the transformation of East Walk gets underway.

“The next 15 months are not going to be easy for shoppers and traders but the centre will carry on functioning throughout the works.

“We will ensure there is minimum disruption to visitors and the contractors will work hard to make sure the public are informed about what is going on and where.”

He said the centre’s website and notice boards would be updated on progress and information leaflets distributed to local households.

There will also be a telephone contact for anyone with queries or concerns.

The work is the latest improvement project for Yate, which has recently seen the opening of a new library, seen its leisure centre upgraded and welcomed a new health centre and minor injuries unit.