Winter Gardens: Companies invited to pitch for temporary use

Planning permission has already been granted to Bournemouth Development Company (the joint venture partnership between BCP Council and Muse Developments, a Morgan Sindall Group company) for the £150 million Winter Gardens development.

However, the Daily Echo previously reported that BDC were reviewing some elements of the scheme - which they secured planning for in 2019 - to ensure it meets the needs of the community.

In the meantime, a number of temporary uses for the town centre site are being explored - with businesses soon to be invited to pitch their ideas for the site.

Councillor Philip Broadhead, portfolio holder for development, growth and regeneration, said: “We are delighted to be working with our partners the Bournemouth Development Company and our wholly owned urban regeneration company FuturePlaces to bring forward exciting opportunities which makes the best use of this great space whilst we progress the long term development plans.

"We are about to go to the market to invite potential hospitality, retail and leisure providers the opportunity to pitch their ideas for the temporary use of the site so we can make the most of this prime location and give people a more enhanced experience when visiting this part of town.”

If the original plans are progressed the development would see more than 350 flats, 600 parking spaces and new leisure and retail space.

It is proposed that the flats would be privately rented through its company Seascape and it is forecast these would bring in more than £1.7 million a year.

BDC said they are not yet ready to release any updates on their plans at this time but will do so in due course.

Tweaks to the approved scheme are expected to be required though the plans state construction could start in the second half of 2022.

There are also discussion surrounding the prospect of a single linked scheme combining Winter Gardens with the Bournemouth International Centre.

The two prominent town centre locations, which are separated by a strip of vacant land and a single road, have been the focus of attention for many years.

BCP Council's recently created FuturePlaces urban regeneration company was given both sites on a list of 15 development opportunities.

FuturePlaces has been tasked with looking into the potential for the sites and bringing forward plans to redevelop them though no plans have been specified to date.