Council buys £10m Kings Chase Shopping Centre shopping centre as part of plans to transform Kingswood town centre

South Gloucestershire Council has bought Kings Chase Shopping Centre for £10m and plans to transform it. Credit: Google Maps

A shopping centre near Bristol is set to be transformed after it was bought by South Gloucestershire Council in a £10m deal.

The purchase of the Kings Chase mall is at the heart of a long-planned £25m regeneration of Kingswood town centre, details of which have only now been revealed because of the need to keep negotiations under wraps.

The mall includes Sainsbury's, Wilko, Boots, Costa, WHSmith and other high street stores.

South Gloucestershire Council was able to buy the complex and the car park thanks to:

  • £12.5m from the Government’s Future High Streets Fund

  • £5m from South Gloucestershire Council funds

  • £7.5m matched funding from the West of England Combined Authority (WECA)

It said options include “leisure, housing and community services to complement the retail experience”.

Cllr Toby Savage and Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore at Kings Chase shopping centre. Credit: South Gloucestershire Council

South Glos Council leader Toby Savage said: “I am really excited to be able to confirm that we have completed the purchase of Kings Chase shopping centre and car park, which has been the subject of many months of hard work alongside the development of a masterplan.

“We are extremely ambitious for the future of Kingswood and this acquisition is critical to our ability to deliver something truly transformational."

Work is already underway to restore the 18th century Whitfield Tabernacle and bring it back to use as a performing arts venue. Funding is also now in place to partly pedestrianise Regent Street to create a public open space.

Whitfield Tabernacle in Kingswood before restoration work had begun. Credit: ITV West Country

Kingswood’s Tory MP Chris Skidmore said: “I have been a proud advocate for the council’s Future High Streets Fund business case and was delighted to see the Government co-investing in this.

“Seeing the Whitfield Tabernacle alive with building work and now this vital acquisition being concluded presents the start of an exciting future for Kingswood town centre.” A public consultation on the area’s masterplan will take place this summer.

Credit: Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporter