A DEVELOPMENT company has announced it is shelving plans for a major new retail park in east Hull. Dransfield Properties secured planning permission for the regeneration project at the site in Holderness Road in April.
At the time, discount chain B&M Bargains was confirmed as one of two intended anchor tenants for the retail park close to the Mount Pleasant junction.
The planning approval given by Hull City Council also allowed the construction of a new garden centre and a number of small retail units at the site.
It had been hoped the development would have created more than 100 new jobs.
However, Dransfield now says restrictive covenants on the use of the land have left it with no choice but to withdraw from the development after further discussions held with city council officials earlier this week.
Although Dransfield owns the freehold, the land is currently designated for industrial use and the company says the cost of lifting the covenants make the proposed retail scheme unviable.
The firm had originally earmarked the site for a large supermarket development but revised that scheme recently with a scaled-down project including two main non-food stores, three smaller retail units and a 90-space car park.
It would have stood opposite the Mount retail park, which was completed by Dransfield in 2003.
Managing director Mark Dransfield said: "We have been committed to developing this site despite the lack of interest from the major food retailers and came forward earlier this year with a new scheme that could have potentially led to further future development.
"This new development would have not have made a profit for the company, but we were keen to bring a scheme forward as we have owned the land for many years."
The cost of lifting the covenants by the council would have required the company to foot the bill.
Mr Dransfield said: "We had hoped to work with the council on finding a solution to lift the covenants but the costs this would incur make it impossible for us to move forward.
"Unfortunately, we have therefore taken the difficult decision to withdraw from the scheme.
"It is extremely disappointing for us and everyone who has been so supportive in working on these plans to bring forward a positive development for the area."
As well as the new stores, two existing empty retail units fronting Holderness Road would have been refurbished and brought back into use as part of the scheme. Initial construction work was scheduled to start later this year.
Most of the site had been cleared for the development after a long- running acquisition programme by Dransfield saw a number of properties being bought and then demolished.
As well as the Mount, Dransfield has also developed two other similar schemes in Hull – Kingston Retail Park further along Holderness Road and the St Andrew's retail park in Hessle Road, west Hull.
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