Backing for £15m M&S store plan at Ravenside

Four Communications director Simon Hoare, for the FTSE 100 property company, said: “Just over 1,000 people attended, and of these some 90 per cent were in favour of the scheme being proposed at the Ravenside Retail and Leisure Park. The proposals were extremely well received and very popular.

“Both Land Securities and Marks and Spencer are encouraged by the level of support received and the enthusiasm for a speedy development and store opening. Against the backdrop of such overwhelming support, we are aiming to submit our planning application to Rother District Council in July.”

As mooted, the £15 million scheme would involve seeking a change of use for the existing Ocean Bowling complex and replacing it with a three-storey, purpose-built store, offering a broad range of M&S products plus a cafeteria. It would create at least 100 jobs.

Andrea MacGregor-Barbour, an M&S town planner, said: “As a company we’ve been looking for some time for a suitable site in Bexhill to complement existing stores in Hastings and Eastbourne, and believe we may have found the ideal solution at Ravenside.”

She said the store - 51,000 square feet gross and with 36,000 square feet of retail space - would embrace best practice in M&S’s “Plan A”, launched in 2007, with which the company aims to become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015.

This means using environmentally-friendly techniques and materials, reducing waste, making operations carbon neutral and promoting healthier diets and lifestyles.

Ravenside is part of a 29 million square feet portfolio of shop, office and residential space owned by Land Securities. Mr Hoare said: “As part of our efforts to gauge public support we wrote to many of the people living nearby.

“We outlined the M&S scheme and asked for their opinions, and within an hour and a half of those letters hitting doormats we had more than 20 people on the phone to us, saying things like ‘Fantastic’, ‘Just what Bexhill needs’ and ‘When will it open?’

“The same sort of response greeted last weekend’s exhibition of proposals at the De La Warr Pavilion. If all goes well with the planning process, it would mean the store could be up and running in just over a year’s time.”

There has been some concern that another shop at Ravenside could tip the balance against its dual role as a retail and leisure park, as the swimming pool would become the only leisure amenity left there.

This may well tax councillors called upon to decide if consent should be given, and while no covenant is known to exist on Ravenside’s retail/leisure ratio, elements of Rother’s Local Plan may have to be taken into account when determining any application.

But Mr Hoare also released a statement from the owners of Ocean Bowling given to Land Securities, making it clear that whatever happens the 24-lane, ten-pin bowling rink at Ravenside is already on borrowed time.

The statement said: “Ocean Bowling has only been able to continue trading over recent years with the financial support of Land Securities, and commercial reality for both parties means that this situation cannot go on indefinitely.

“We are happy to extend our best wishes to Land Securities in its redevelopment plans. In the meantime, we will continue to operate and seek to offer all of our customers an enjoyable bowling experience.”

The Observer attempted to contact Ocean Bowling directly, but received no response