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CORBY | Projects & Construction

423K views 2K replies 94 participants last post by  Huge Erection 
#1 · (Edited)
WELCOME TO THE CORBY PROJECTS THREAD

(The previous thread was lost when the site was hacked, so i'm starting again)

Corby is undergoing a period of extensive regeneration, that will last until 2031, by which time the population should be nearer to 100,000 than the current 53,174. On this thread, you'll find news and photographs relating to Corby's regeneration and where possible, the photographs will be done as timelines.

KEEP AN EYE ON THIS FIRST PAGE AS I WILL POST PHOTO UPDATES INTO EXISTING POSTS RATHER THAN CREATING NEW ONES

Let's kick things off...

Oakley Vale Shopping Precinct and Pub

30 Dec 2004


5 May 2005


22 July 2005


26 October 2005
 
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#171 · (Edited)
When the new academy is open...

any idea what is going to happen to the current Community College site?

Is it gonna be some Commuter housing estate or is this one of the proposed sites for the speculative Chinatown thingy?

Are they still planning to knock down some houses in Wheatley Avenue and have a quick route thru to the station?


Also, found this new artists impression of station earlier.


I guess it doesn't need to be massive, but i thought the building might have been a bit bigger than that given the size of the site it will be on. Maybe some shops/offices could have been attached. I still think there is scope for a connection to the North rather than just running to London.
Although i have just checked, and there is only actually one line running through Corby so maybe its not possible.


Plenty of land will be opened up by this development though and along with the old Council depot this end of Town will be unrecognisable in a few years time.
 
#172 ·
any idea what is going to happen to the current Community College site?

Is it gonna be some Commuter housing estate or is this one of the proposed sites for the speculative Chinatown thingy?

Are they still planning to knock down some houses in Wheatley Avenue and have a quick route thru to the station?


Also, found this new artists impression of station earlier.


I guess it doesn't need to be massive, but i thought the building might have been a bit bigger than that given the size of the site it will be on. Maybe some shops/offices could have been attached. I still think there is scope for a connection to the North rather than just running to London.
Although i have just checked, and there is only actually one line running through Corby so maybe its not possible.


Plenty of land will be opened up by this development though and along with the old Council depot this end of Town will be unrecognisable in a few years time.
I think the CCC site is one of the favoured sites for this Chinese village although there's been no planning application submitted and as you say, it is speculative at the moment.

Not sure about Wheatley Avenue, that was the original plan but all has went quiet on that front. I suppose if they were to build the chinese village and/or other business park on land between the station and Wheatley Avenue they could build a path and/or road to the station, but there's no solid plan that I know of.

If i'm right, the new station building is based on a new 'standard modular' concept by Network Rail, which gives the option to add to the building further down the line. It does look to be a small building and I think they're taking the 'see how it goes' route with the station. In my view it would be foolish to spend millions more pounds on a bigger station at this stage in case it doesn't take off as well as intended. Fingers crossed that wont happen though, and it will grow as the town does.

The masterplan for the station site includes residential, retail and office development around the station (within the red line on that aerial photo) and hopefully the planning applications for those parts will be as good as the masterplan suggests.
 
#173 ·
more news

cheers for that Dinp. Suppose it makes sense regarding keeping the station at a sensible size to begin with. The surrounding land is ideal for some hi-spec offices. The CCC site will be a great central location for the chinese village with possible access on all four sides, but the ability to keep it 'self contained' if you like. However, i'm extremely doubtful that this will ever go ahead and be sustainable in Corby. Privately funded though, it could be a great asset / attraction for the town. Whether the site is big enough is another matter, but it would be a shame if the underused parkland around it was developed on.


On a seperate issue, drove past Priors Hall development the other day and they certainly seem to be cracking on with that. Didn't realise that the housing was going to wrap around the golf course though. Will be a shame, as its currently so tranquil down there. The people who move in nearby better be warned about my tendancy to hook on the 15th before they buy as well :laugh:



I see the process of buying up land for the Geddington bypass / corby East Link road has begun as well. All coming together nicely.

Are there still plans for a new road to go from RS roundabout to near power station? can't understand the need for this one myself, although it will be handy.
 
#175 ·
Sorry to inform everyone about this but another completely ill-informed attack has been made on Corby by the non-entity Clive Aslet, the article being here.

There are plenty of expletives that could describe Aslet but I will not rise to the bait as he is clearly an arrogant, pompous individual with no knowledge of the regeneration going on in Corby. People are starting to see beyond his comments and he is fast developing a reputation of being merely an ignorant, second rate hack on a minority circulation paper looking to make his way out of obscurity by attacking Corby. Visiting this thread would be an excellent way of seeing the scale of development in Corby.

His idea of the country may be to have pretty villages full of men and women walking around in tweed but he has clearly not moved on and seen the wider picture.

On a lighter note, the station plans do look very good. Hopefully in the future the rail franchise can be extended to the North to increase Corby's transport links.
 
#176 ·
what of the westgate site?

after Westgate announced that they planned to remove Corby's only proper department store last month, i just wondered what people's thoughts were for the future use of the large premises?



The building has a lot of frontage and (i think) is located directly between phases 2 and 3 of LandSecurities masterplan for the town centre. Hopefully this plan won't be changed to knock down this building as well.

In my opinion, the former co-op building should remain and be converted into smaller offices and possibly a couple of pubs. With a lick of paint, this site could be a decent access to the town centre again without spending a whole lot of money
 
#177 ·
Given that the town centre masterplan generally suggests leisure for that area, including the Deene House site, I wouldn't be surprised if a pub/bar found its way into the Westgate building. That said, i'm sad its going as it is a good shop and most people i've spoken to are equally as sad that its leaving
 
#178 ·
although its somewhere that i've rarely needed to shop in meself, it always seemed fairly busy and is the one store in Corby where you know that you can get yer ma or gran a christmas present!

I guess with the likes of Asda/Tesco/internet/etc selling a bigger variety of products at cheaper prices, the smaller department stores like these are going to suffer.

Its quite a large store though and split over 3/4 levels would struggle to get a single tenant to occupy it. Like Dinp says, if this is eventualy going to be the Leisure end of town, a pub wouldn't look out of place here at all. :cheers:
Being directly opposite the police station would hopefully deter the idiots from ruining it. I can almost see JD Wetherspoons in place of that Westgate sign already! Although didn't they get opposition when they tried to set up at the other end of Corporation street a few years back?
 
#179 ·
Wetherspoons did get permission a few years ago at the other end of Corporation Street, but for whatever reason didnt implement it. A furniture store then applied for permission, got it, moved in and then went bust so now it sits empty. But they did enlarge the unit to make that furniture shop, so its ripe for a bar or restaurant to take it up.

I wouldn't be surprised if they tarted up that whole row of shops facing George Street as it'll look pretty dated next to Willow Place and the bottom couple of floors of Grosvenor House.
 
#182 · (Edited)
Cheers for the photo's Dinp

i'm not sure if i'm too keen on the general mish-mash of building materials used at the front of the site though. Is there a protective film on the cafe glazing, or is that green/blue colour the finished effect? And i still can't get the feeling of another wind-tunnel out of my head.

That said it will be a great improvement to the town centre, still need to fill all the units up though.

Think they may have made a bit of a boob by charging for the Multi-storey car park straight away. The free parking was the main attraction of the pre-development town centre that attracted people from nearby towns ahead of Kettering. thought they might have waited about 6 months before implementing the inevitable charges.

I also wouldn't be very happy if i worked in the town centre and had to pay up to £10 a day to park my car.
 
#183 ·
more info on car park charges

Corby town centre's multi-storey car park is currently undergoing a refurbishment programme in time for the October opening of the new Willow Place shopping precinct.

Contractors are hard at work cleaning and upgrading the facility, which has required areas to be coned off whilst the refurbishment is carried out. Brighter lighting is being installed, as well as clearer signage.

The refurbished car park will have 630 spaces in total, including 20 designated disabled parking bays on the top two decks and 12 parent and child bays on decks B and D. There will be two entry and two exit barriers to speed up access and egress to and from the car park.

Town Centre Director Danny Pickard says: 'The new car park will be lighter and more airy and additional staff will be on hand to assist drivers. Sometimes it can be hard for shoppers to find a space, so we are introducing a small charge to park, as well as time restrictions to deter long term parkers and contractors. This will ensure that spaces are kept available for genuine shoppers.'

Parking will continue to be free on Sundays and bank holidays and on Thursdays from 6pm - 9pm. At all other times, up to one hour's parking will cost 30p, up to two hours 50p and up to three hours 80p. A tariff of £10 will be chargeable for drivers who want to park longer than three hours. Pay on foot machines will be installed on the top level of the car park, one of which will be specially adapted for customers with disabilities.

All works are expected to be completed by the end of September, when the new parking arrangements will come into operation.

------------------

Can someone please remind me how we put up with Tops Estates for so long. Their lack of investment and the state they let the town centre get into is nothing short of shocking. These Land securities people seem to have acted on pretty much all the things they've said in the couple of years that they've owned the town centre.

Next job, destroy the meccano!
 
#185 ·
More good news for the town

College set for £15m move

Cafe quarter planned for Corby site

TRESHAM Institute in Corby is planning to move from its town centre campus to make way for a new leisure and bar quarter.
Negotiations on the plan to move the college from George Street to an industrial estate in the town in three years' time are continuing, but the new location should be finalised in November.

The move would make way for bars, restaurants and cafes in George Street.

They would sit next to the new £20m pool complex and £35m civic building as part of the Parklands Gateway development.

The college's 2,000 full- and part-time students would finish in summer 2010 and move to the new £15m campus, which could be on the St James' industrial estate where it already has a skills centre.

The college, which recently opened its new £18m campus in Windmill Avenue, Kettering, is in negotiations with the Learning and Skills Council for funds and is also in talks with Corby Council and a possible mystery buyer for the site.

The new college would have more of an emphasis on construction skills.
Principal Joe West said: "The plan was always to develop Kettering first then move on to Corby.

"The relocation is not yet definite as it depends on achieving a new site and funding. We hope to be in a position to announce the new site in November."

Mr West said the out-of-town site had been decided on because the use of the college's heavy machinery would be better suited to the industrial area.

Commenting on the future of the existing college site, Corby Council chief executive Chris Mallender said: "We hope to have cafes and restaurants and good quality modern apartments for sale. We want to take advantage of the fact we will have the pool and the Civic Hub nearby.
 
#188 ·
Sorry but you are wrong. It was the topping out ceremony for RC frame. The final roof slab floor was on fri 25th Aug followed by minor ventilation upstands.





Taken on the 18th Aug where the final slab pour is in the top left corner where the columns are still exposed.

Steel frame extension on the left still waiting erection.
 
#187 ·
a couple more photo's

robbed from the ET's website...




Open all hours

LATE night shopping and 24-hour security are set to be introduced in Corby when the Willow Place development opens next month.
Town centre owner Land Securities is planning to cater for some of the big name retail stores such as TK Maxx to open until at least 8pm on Thursdays.

It is hoped this will make late opening hours more viable for existing stores that have expressed an interest in evening shopping in the past, including TJ Hughes and Wilkinsons.

Land Securities will also be launching 24-hour security for the town centre on October 7 to ensure the continued safety of shoppers.

Centre manager Daniel Pickard said: "Because the town is getting bigger we've got a lot more area to look after and it's something that the town should have."

The company is currently recruiting security staff to fulfil the new operations.

Mr Pickard added plans to extend opening hours, including the introduction of Sunday trading, were in the early stages of development.

He said the idea would give an opportunity for people who work during the day to shop, as well as make the town a more attractive place for shoppers from outside Corby to visit once the town's new railway station is opened by 2009.

In an interview with the Evening Telegraph, head of development for Willow Place Mark Rymell confirmed the shopping complex would be launched on Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony by the town's mayor Jean Addison on the Friday and it will be open to the public the next day.

The first store to be opened will be TK Maxx, which will begin trading "a little ahead" of those dates.

Other traders will open between late October and mid-November.

In total, eight of the confirmed retailers now have their own contractors carrying out fitting works in their shops. These include two of the biggest names, TK Maxx and WH Smith.

Mr Rymell confirmed there are still five or six units to be filled and that Land Securities was in consultation with several outlets about them.
---------------------------
Now if only they can get some decent shops to fill the units, currently Corby is without a specialised shop for the following markets:

Bookshop
Music Shop
Toy Shop
Electrical Goods
 
#190 ·
They have started removing the steelwork (affectionately known as the meccano) on Corporation Street today.

Whilst this will open the street up and make it look more attractive, I really hope they replace the shelters (as i'm led to believe they will) with something to shelter people from the elements as they've taken away some rain shelters already and that was always one of the selling points of the town centre IMO.
 
#195 · (Edited)
great photo's - am actually quite impressed!

Looks quite good on the whole although the novelty of having two-storey shops and escalators will wear off soon! The developers seem to have blended in the new bits with the older parts of queens square quite well and there is a lot more open space than i thought there would be. Any idea's what's going in the 1st floor units or is it just for storage / stock, etc.

Now just to fill all the empty units...


bit about the new shops in todays ET:

-----------------------
SHOPPERS clapped and cheered as they welcomed in a new era of shopping with the opening of two major stores in Corby.
Clothing retailer TK Maxx and computer console shop Game opened their doors to queues of people who were eager to get the first glimpse inside yesterday.

It is part of the first phase of the £35m Willow Place shopping centre and shoppers were delighted with the latest developments in the town centre.

Eileen Annandale, of Orkney Walk, said: "I think it's brilliant – when it's all finished it will be lovely.

"The town really needed this."

People from across the area queued for an hour to see the new shops in Queen's Square, which are set to be joined by River Island, Jane Norman, Dorothy Perkins and Clarkes and Evans.

Jean Fincham, of Lavender Close, moved to Corby three years ago.

She said: "I think Willow Place is a vast improvement on what was here before.

"When we first moved here we were shocked at the lack of shops and the variety.

"This is a very good development and I have got to hand it to them on how it's been designed.

"It's done a lot for the town and it was badly needed."

People also came from outside the Corby area to see the new shopping parade and a number of eager shoppers were spotted running into the new stores when they were officially opened.

The opening of TK Maxx created 50 jobs, while eight people were taken on at Game.

The first 20 customers to walk through the door at Game were given goody bags yesterday and the chance to win an Xbox 360.

Willow Place is run by town centre owners Land Securities and is due to officially open on Friday, October 26.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony by the town's mayor Jean Addison that day and it will open to the public on the Saturday.

It is hoped the other stores will open between late October and mid-November.

short video as well - http://video.jpress.co.uk/editorial/KET/willow_place_jpsettings.wmv
 
#196 ·
only in corby...

could you think a wine bar on an industrial estate would be a good idea.

from the ET a few weeks ago

http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Bar-plans-are-a-corking.3394595.jp

Bar plans are a corking idea

A former furniture store on the corner of George Street and Corporation Street could be converted into a wine bar and restaurant

CORBY'S first wine bars could open after two separate planning applications were submitted to planners.
A former furniture store on the corner of George Street and Corporation Street could be converted into a wine bar and restaurant with an outdoor seating area.

It would be the first town centre drinking destination for late-night revellers.

Another application for a trendy, timber-clad, two-floor restaurant and pub at the burned-down Salvatex building at St Mark's Road, on the St James' Industrial Estate, is also up for consideration.

Applicant Ped Celebicanin, an entrepreneur who has interests in several Corby businesses, said: "I want to re-define the drinking culture in Corby.

"I don't want a lot of people getting drunk in my bar, I want it to be a new type of venue for the town.

"People can come along and have a nice meal and maybe a drink afterwards in nice surroundings."

Previous concerns had been raised in the town that the venue was about to be turned into a lap-dancing bar or a late-night drinking den but Mr Celebicanin said that was not the case and hoped the bar would be similar in style to a Wetherspoons venue.

He also plans to open a terrace on the side of the building for al-fresco dining and hopes to hire out the bar for functions.

The second application, by Tops Shop Precincts Ltd, could transform the dilapidated Neville House in George Street into a glass-fronted restaurant-cafe and bar with a glazed balustrade around the existing balcony area.

Several empty units would be converted as part of the venue.

The applications are expected to be considered councillors at a development control meeting later this month.

----------------------

as i've said before, the old furniture store is crying out for a wetherspoons/yates type pub, but one on the St James Ind estate is baffling. Although i guess the land there is going to be valuable with the train station in close proximity, and possible Tresham college moving in nearby.

very much just one mans proposal at the minute and i doubt if it came to fruition. I do like the quote about changing Corby's drinking culture though!:cheers:
 
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