CIVIC chiefs are set to discuss the next stage of Poole's £132 million Town Centre North scheme - which could become the largest project of its kind in the borough's history.

Borough of Poole (BOP) cabinet members will convene on Tuesday (April 17), when the project - to create a new bus station, more than 400 homes, commercial office space, a hotel and leisure centre - will be on the agenda.

A report by the council's Strategic Director Kate Ryan calls for cabinet members to recommend that full council, which meets the following week, backs a number of key decisions on the scheme.

These include:

  • Moving forward to procure a 'development partner'.
  • Agree the Town Centre North scheme is launched to the market, and that public consultation is held.
  • Approve a budget of up to £1.4m from existing council reserves to progress the regeneration scheme. And approve the allocation of up to £1.5m from the Corporate Capital Contingency.
  • Approve potential capital receipts from Beach Road Car Park and Constitution Hill Road land sales are earmarked to fund the regeneration scheme.
  • Approve that the Dolphin Swimming Poole site, and the sites north and south of Seldown Car Park are earmarked for the development.

In the report Ms Ryan concludes: "The Town Centre North scheme provides and opportunity to transform Poole town centre and deliver economic, social and community benefits. It is a complex regeneration scheme of a larger scale that the Borough of Poole has delivered to date, with an estimated Gross Development Value (GDV)of £132m."

GDV is a technical term which refers to how much the development project may be worth on the open market once all works have been completed.

Ms Ryan continued: "The complexities of the scheme arise from the mix of development, the requirements of the council to deliver elements such as the swimming pool, an enhanced bus station and public realm and transport infrastructure redesign.

"Although the borough owns the majority of the land, there are also two third-party land owners to consider."

These landowners are Legal & General and Go South Coast, who own the bus depot.