Plans to replace Debenhams with 332 flats take next step
SHOPPING CENTRE OWNERS SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO THE CITY COUNCIL
MULTI-MILLION pound plans to demolish the vacant Debenhams store in Leicester have taken their next step forward.
The department store in the Highcross shopping centre ceased trading a year ago when it had to close because of the first coronavirus lockdown.
The troubled retailer announced its permanent closure two months later and then went into administration.
That prompted Highcross owners Hammerson to draw up a new plan for the store, which would see it replaced with a complex of more than 330 flats rising 15 storeys high in the centre of the city.
This week, Hammerson officially lodged its plans with Leicester City Council, which will now assess them to decide whether the scheme should be allowed to go ahead.
The firm held a virtual public consultation with residents at the end of last year which will be followed up by another arranged by the city council as part of its processing of the application.
The plan is for 332 private rental flats but also a number of retail units facing into the shopping centre where the old store entrance was.
Hammerson’s UK and Ireland managing director Mark Bourgeois said: “We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our consultation.
“Local feedback has helped to shape the plans and we are delighted to submit this finalised proposal for high-quality homes for local people to rent, which will support our brands at Highcross and contribute to the continued success of Leicester city centre.”
The company says tenants will have access to a roof garden and that it will carry out improvements to St Peter’s Lane after it has removed the existing 1980s-built store.
Hammerson is working with a firm called Packaged Living to deliver the scheme.
Packaged Living’s joint managing director Mark Woodrow said: “St Peter’s Lane is the result of Hammerson and Packaged Living’s shared vision to deliver good quality rental homes within sustainable, mixed-use communities.
“We are delighted to be working with Hammerson, bringing our investment, development and operational experience in the build-to-rent sector to support the re-purposing and evolution of this excellently located asset.”
If the council gives the scheme the go-ahead, work could get under way next year.
AND TAILORED TRANSPORT
A PROJECT to improve bus services in rural parts of Leicestershire is set to benefit from a £1.3 million cash injection announced by the Department for Transport.
Leicestershire County Council will receive the money to fund three minibuses that can be booked using an app on a smartphone, it has been revealed.
The money will be allocated from a £20 million fund to support “innovative, on-demand” transport services tailored to people living in rural and suburban areas, at a time more convenient for them.
It is part of the “most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation”, according to the government.
The plans were revealed by Transport Minister Baroness Vere on Tuesday as part of a new National Bus Strategy involving a £3 billion investment across England through the Rural Mobility Fund.
The Department of Transport said that the proposals will mean “more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and understand, better coordinated and cheaper bus services” for passengers.
A spokesman said: “Leicestershire County Council will receive £1,300,000 to fund three minibuses operating from 6am to 7.30pm, Monday to Saturday, which can be booked through a mobile app.
“The service, which would build on the area’s existing demand responsive transport, would add to conventional, timetabled bus services which are in operation.”
They added: “The funding would help people get to work, support the local economy and boost sustainable travel in the area.
“The funding allocation will allow local authorities to trial innovative projects in rural and suburban areas, where traditional timetabled services often aren’t practical.”
The changes include:
■ Simpler bus fares with daily price caps, so people can use the bus as many times a day as they need without facing mounting costs;
■ More services in the evenings and at the weekends;
■ Integrated services and ticketing across all transport modes, so people can easily move from bus to train;
■ All buses to accept contactless payments.
Baroness Vere said the plan would dramatically improve links between rural communities and county towns and cities, where many schools and workplaces are located.
“Buses are the life-blood of our communities,” she said. “They get us to work, to school and to see friends and family. Put simply, they help us make the little everyday journeys that make up our lives.”
She added: “In places where people are more dispersed, and the distance they need to travel is longer, it can be harder for traditional, timetabled bus services to truly meet their needs.
“This funding will give local authorities the opportunity to trial services that work better for communities – such as wheelchairaccessible minibuses that can be booked on an app on request.
“The schemes will help people who’ve had limited transport links for too long get to where they need to be.”
A “CLUMSY” attempt at insurance fraud saw an Aston Martin DB7 owner try to claim £30,000 by pretending the dilapidated vehicle had been stolen from his driveway in Leicester.
In fact, Gulam Mohammed Wahid was keeping his car in a yard near his family’s restaurant – and after investigators found it, he was charged with fraud.
The fake claim in July 2019 immediately led to concerns from Wahid’s insurance company because he provided them with a suspicious MOT certificate for the car – which, in reality, had not had a valid MOT certificate for a decade and had also been uninsured for many years.
The insurance company sent a member of staff to the MOT garage in Leicester that provided Wahid with the fake certificate and the insurance worker left after being threatened with violence by staff at the garage, which has since lost its ability to carry out MOT tests.
Wahid, 41, of Roundhill Road, Evington, was then investigated by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.
Some time after they started their investigation, they were informed by the DVSA that the “stolen” Aston Martin had showed up in a yard in a neglected state.
The police went along to chat to the owner of the yard, who told them Wahid had been storing the car there for about seven years, only taking it out for a drive once in all that time. Wahid was interviewed by fraud officers, responding “no comment” to all questions.
He later admitted the fraud and on Friday last week he was sentenced at Leicester Magistrates’ Court.
He was given a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a curfew requirement over the next eight months.
Detective Constable Ben Hurley, from the City of London Police fraud team, said: “Wahid let an expensive car go to rack and ruin, leaving it exposed to the elements.
“After years of neglect, Wahid attempted to make a fraudulent theft claim through his insurer in order to gain financially from a vehicle which was probably worth very little in its condition.
“The fraudster was clumsy in attempting to cover his tracks, leaving the car just a few hundred metres from the restaurant where he worked.
“Officers were able to quickly link the vehicle to Wahid, proving that the car had not been stolen and that the claimant had tried to defraud his insurer.
“For that, he has been rightfully punished.”
After years of neglect, Wahid attempted to make a fraudulent theft claim through his insurer
HE CLAIMED CAR WAS STOLEN, CLAIMED £30K, BUT IT WAS IN YARD NEAR FAMILY’S RESTAURANT
Police