The Basingstoke Gazette reports this morning on intended plans to push forward the redevelopment of The Malls Shopping Centre in Basingstoke town centre.

The centre, which has constant speculation regarding redevelopment, has recently attracted some large names, including Primark, to sit alongside the success of Festival Place, which opened in 2002.

Newly elected Councillor, Andrew Finney, is behind the scheme, and keen to push the major stakeholders, Property company St Modwen, but the local council has concerns that St Modwen is not properly involved in the project.

Cllr Finney indicated St Modwen bosses are unwilling to invest the funds needed for a major rebuild of the centre. He said: “They’re content to hold the investment in The Malls in the form they currently hold it and they are generating the level of return they would want from The Malls in the current climate.”

But he added: “We are confident we are going to get more out of them.”