EASTBOURNE'S town centre redevelopment plan is well on course and will be completed in seven years time.
It's more than a year since the Herald revealed the plan, which will see 38 homes bulldozed to make way for a £100 million redevelopment of the town centre.
The grand plan aims to make everything anyone living in Eastbourne may need available on the
ir doorstep.
Keith Morrison, assistant director of economy, tourism and planning for Eastbourne Borough Council, said that the scheme had generated significant interest.
He said, '(This project] is about a sustainable shopping centre, with additional high quality retail offer, social and high quality housing, a leisure facility, a transport interchange and dealing with some of the transport issues in the town.
'It's about creating open space and a flagship building which once again will put Eastbourne on the map.'
Currently the owners of the Arndale Centre are looking at the viability of such a project.
It is envisaged that the future of the 38 properties inside the development area will be clarified in the new year.
A compulsory purchase order could trigger a public inquiry if one homeowner does not agree to sell their property.
This could delay the project, but the borough council is confident that the scheme will be completed by 2011 or 2012.
The area not only includes the Arndale Centre, but also Ashford Road, Commercial Road, the Enterprise Centre, the railway station and Terminus Road.
Mr Morrison added, 'The council believes there may well be a planning application in the middle or early autumn of next year.
'But what matters to the council above everything is that the scheme is right for the town.
'A potential scheme is going to be in the region of £100 million.
'The design must be right, the feel is right and what we will be seeking before then is for a significant piece of public consultation (to take place] long before a planning application.
'The council wants at the earliest opportunity the issue of acquisition of those houses, which are under threat by any potential scheme, clarified.
'The council remains utterly focused and utterly committed to resolving that issue as early possible.
'We very much hope to give some news on that early in the New Year.'
matthew.brown@trbeckett.co.uk
