Cherwell District Council has taken a key stake in the future regeneration of Banbury town centre by offering to purchase Castle Quay shopping centre and deliver the planned CQ2 development.
The council stepped in after the developer, Aberdeen Standard Investments, shelved plans to develop a new cinema, supermarket, hotel and restaurants as part of the CQ2 scheme.
Cllr Tony Ilott, Cherwell’s lead member for finance, said: “The new development at Castle Quay has been highly anticipated and if not delivered would be a massive blow to residents and businesses. We have therefore taken the decision to proactively explore all possible options to secure the future of this development.
Cherwell currently has a 15 per cent stake in Castle Quay but would look to increase that to 100 per cent if the deal was to proceed. As part of its business plan, Cherwell would review the current design of Castle Quay to front it towards the canal and consider increasing the size of existing units to meet current retail demand.
