£3m. revamp of Burnley’s Charter Walk shopping centre gets go-ahead

BURNLEY’S Charter Walk shopping centre is to undergo a major £3m. revamp – in time for Christmas.

Owner Addington Capital has received planning approval to redevelop and modernise the shopping centre and work is hoped to start in spring.

The Market Square will be completely changed with the first floor balcony and staircases outside River Island, WH Smith, Superdrug and Ryman’s removed and the existing shops replaced by three new double height units.

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At least two of these businesses are expected to move elsewhere in Charter Walk.

In the square itself the landscaping will be improved and the circular cafe building demolished and replaced with a new glazed pod style cafe and kiosk with outside seating.

Alex Wagstaff of Addington Capital, the property investment and asset management company behind the scheme, said: “It is vital Charter Walk moves with the times to keep up with the changing retail market and habits of shoppers.

“The reconfigured shopping centre will provide modern retail accommodation for Burnley and we anticipate it will attract a number of high quality retailers to town.

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“We are delighted to have had the plans approved and hope the improvements to Charter Walk will help to strengthen the town centre’s appeal, in turn increasing the attraction of Burnley as a retail destination.”

Centre bosses said this would “improve the visibility of retailers located in this area whose view is currently obscured by the existing building”.

Work is scheduled to begin later this year with the new units expected to be trading by Christmas. Charter Walk Shopping Centre comprises 365,000sq ft of retail floor space and 15,000 sq ft of office accommodation in addition to the markets and 737 car parking spaces. It attracts more than nine million customers a year and recent figures have shown it holds its own compared to other centres around the country in regard to the number of visitors and mix of shops.