Northampton Greyfriars: Plans could go 'back to the drawing board'

Plans to redevelop the site of a Brutalist bus station could go "back to the drawing board".

The Greyfriars building dominated Northampton's skyline for 40 years before it was demolished in March 2015.

Proposals for student and retirement accommodation, flats and leisure facilities were approved last year.

But Northampton Borough Council said the developer changed the proposals and had not delivered the scheme.

It said it would be taking "a fresh look at things".

The new development, which was due to open by 2021, was to include 150 flats, 500 student rooms and 81 retirement apartments.

It was also to include restaurants, a hotel, a coach station and either a cinema or a trampoline centre.

The developer, Carter Endurance, has been approached for a comment.

Based on an initial brief published in November 2015 and a consultation which followed, Carter Endurance was selected in September 2016 as the preferred bidder.

Northampton Borough Council said the developer had since made significant changes to the proposal and had submitted a revised scheme which would "provide only partial implementation".

As first reported in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, a report to go before the council's cabinet next week, based on legal advice, recommended members approve ending negotiations on the basis that Carter Endurance "has not been able to achieve the original offer".

Jonathan Nunn, leader of Northampton Borough Council, said: "The developer has been unable to deliver the proposed scheme but that has provided us with the opportunity to take a fresh look at things.

"The world has moved on since our original brief in 2015 and it is perhaps appropriate that we consider all of the options open to us at this time."

He said it could mean they will have to "go back to the drawing board" in a bid to "get it right".