Retailers are facing more confusion following new threats to the£200 million redevelopment of Bath's troubled 1970s Southgate shopping centre.
Although Morley Fund Management and Shearer Property Group say they have partially closed a 'viability gap' with Bath Council, worries have emerged over the possibility that the centre sits on top of Bath's famous hot springs.
The centre's redevelopment requires deep excavation under the existing site to create underground parking. Consultant planner Roger Guy, who is handling the application for the council, told a council meeting last week that the possibility of hitting the thermal springs was a 'development risk'. But the true extent of the risk would only be known after the centre was demolished and the bore holes drilled, he said.
A year ago, the council, as freeholder, granted full planning consent subject to 42 conditions and signed a secret development agreement covering how the rental income would be split. Although 10 per cent has been trimmed off the development budget, the developers have stated that the scheme was still unviable.
Morley retail fund manager Chris Paterson urged faster progress so that Morley could take advantage of break clauses in the leases of several Southgate tenants, which can only be exercised in 2004. Otherwise further delays would occur because of the need for CPO powers.
But an official start date for the redevelopment could still be several years off. King Sturge's Bath retail partner Mike McElhinney said: 'The scheme still needs agreement from Network Rail, and the uncharted risks of archaeology and hydrology - the hot spa water - must still haunt the decision of whether or not to start the work.'
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