One Public Estate programme
Bedford is set to deliver an ambitious programme of work focused on using publicly owned assets to regenerate Bedford town centre.
The One Public Estate (OPE) Programme aims to encourage owners of public sector assets to work together to make better use of their combined assets.
The aim of this is to:
- create economic growth
- establish more integrated and customer-focused services
- generate capital receipts; and reduce running costs
In 2016, Bedford Borough Council alongside other public sector partners were successful in obtaining funding to help bring forward viability studies and master plans for identified sites.
The focus is on:
- creating jobs
- supporting existing and new businesses
- bringing forward housing delivery
- supporting and giving confidence to private sector developers and investors
- encouraging developments that need a shared vision and strong leadership in order to move forward.
The Masterplans for parts of Bedford town centre were approved by the Council’s Executive on 5 September 2018 and are available below as PDF documents.
Separate baseline documents provide supporting background information. These are available below:
Harpur Centre shopping mall
Tellon Capital are the new owners of the Harpur Shopping Centre in Bedford town centre.
They have announced plans of investing £5m into the Centre which includes increasing the retail/A3 footprint by 15,000 square foot.
The aim is to attract larger national retailers as well as improving the areas surrounding the centre eg Midland Road and Horne Lane.
Tenants include Boots, Primark, Pandora. New Look and Superdrug.
The purchase has given Tellon Capital an excellent opportunity to secure a dominant shopping centre with considerable growth potential.
The completion of the Riverside Bedford scheme will increase footfall through the centre (which already has an annual visitor total of 9 million) whilst a reconfiguration of the unit sizes and layouts will attract larger retailers and improve the tenant mix.
The GCW website has more details on the units currently available. You can also call GCW to discuss the future plans for the Centre on 0207 6474805 or 0207 6474819.