South Ruislip will have 'a new town centre' thanks to a £25.8 million development, including a supermarket and cinema complex.
The former Arla Foods development was left derelict and disused for more than 10 years and a judicial review by nearby supermarket Sainbury's meant the plans were delayed even further.
After the High Court dismissed the judicial review brought by J Sainsbury, developers Citygrove set to work and marked the 'official' start of construction with a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday December 2.
Cllr Allan Kauffman, ward councillor for South Ruislip thinks, it's an “exciting time” for the area.
He told getwestlondon: “It'll bring a town centre to South Ruislip rather than just a small parade of shops.
“That's not to say a small parade of shops is not important, they are. They'll remain and they'll still trade because they're niche shops that won't be affected by this.
“The site was just left to rot, so it's lovely to have it new and revitalised.”
The construction work, expected to take 60 weeks, will be carried out by Simons, with a total scheme value of £25.8 million. Bellway homes will deliver housing on a separate site.
The development includes a new Asda store and petrol station, an 11 screen cinema complex and five restaurants, creating over 150 jobs for construction operatives and 500 full and part time jobs upon completion.
Tom Robinson, Chief Executive of Simons Construction Ltd, is “absolutely delighted” to be a part of the development.
He said: “It's the first project we've done with Citygrove, so we're delighted to be working for a new customer on such a high profile scheme for the residents of South Ruislip, who I understand, are delighted with the prospect of having this kind of facility here as well.
“It's a great opportunity for an organisation like ours to deliver on customer promises and we're keen to give best outcome for local residents and the customer we're working for and we take a lot of pride in that.”
'There's no stopping us now'
Toby Baines, Chairman of Citygrove, is looking forward to a big opening around Easter 2017, after a long battle to begin work on the project.
Speaking at the ground-breaking, he said: “The first part of the journey took us four years, and there are a lot of people here who really saw what we were trying to do and could see that this derelict site needed to be regenerated and supported that.
“By the summer, you'll see the buildings and all the steel will be up. They go up very quickly and we're hoping to finish this time next year. Then there's a three month period to fit all the units out and we'll be looking at a big opening during Easter 2017.
“It's really good and exciting and there's no stopping us now.”
Although the scheme has been warmly welcomed by most South Ruislip residents, concerns were previously raised over increased traffic once the site is up and running.
Cllr Judy Kelly, ward councillor for South Ruislip and Arts Champion, said: “Ten years ago Allan and I sat down, and as Champion of the Arts, I said 'We've got to have more than just houses and shops, we want a cinema', and I am so so pleased that we've got that because that gives life and purpose to the whole project.
“It's not just another out of town shopping centre – this is more.”
Cllr Kelly insists that she and her fellow ward councillors will resolve any additional traffic problems when they know what the main problem is.
She said: “If this site was all be residential, the traffic from it would just be adding to the current rush hour traffic.
“Actually, having a retail site helps to spread the traffic out, so having that mix it's better as far as traffic is concerned.”
