THE redevelopment of Huntingdon’s Chequers Court, including a new, larger Waitrose supermarket and an end to the saga of the St Germain Street gate, got the green light from Huntingdonshire planners on Monday evening.
As reported by The Hunts Post last week, part of the development involves building over what – until a stopping-up order in 2004 – was a pedestrian access between the High Street and the ramped area of Chequers Court, beside Wilkinsons.
A gate installed there for what developers Churchmanor Estates said were safety reasons – and opponents claimed were commercial reasons, to increase footfall in Chequers Walk – has been controversial for the past five years.
In addition to the new supermarket on the site of what used to be the Inland Revenue’s Huntingdon offices, Churchmanor’s plans include a further seven shops, a restaurant/caf� and two kiosks.
Demolition and construction work, which is expected to take about 12 months, cannot begin until a 400-place multi-storey car park is finished in Nursery Road – work is due to start in January – and Sainsbury’s has relocated to larger premises off George Street.
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