THE imminent rebuild of Castlepoint’s car park could spell bad news for Bournemouth town centre if it results in the shopping park expanding.

That’s the warning from Bournemouth’s town centre manager Roger Parker in a report describing the health of the town centre.

He said a report commissioned in 2013 revealed the main threats on the horizon are the continued development of Southampton’s shopping centres and the potential expansion of the retail offer in Poole.

But his report adds: “Also significant will be the planned repairs to the Castlepoint shopping car park, which will likely result in the drive to fully let the ground floor space at the centre which could further erode spend in existing high street locations.

“It is also important to note that many of the suburban shopping centres in Bournemouth are continuing to improve their offer.”

Castlepoint bosses have already stated they intend to open up existing lower ground floor units to provide extra car parking during the rebuild of the defective car park and walkways.

Once the rebuild is complete, these units will be turned into extra retail space, as was originally intended.

The report going before the council’s economy and tourism overview panel tonight asks councillors to support a range of measures to boost the vitality of the town centre.

These include the right policies to “court” retail investors, improve and de-clutter the public realm and exploit the potential of hotel and conference guests.