Work starts on regenerating Aylesbury town centre

Work is underway on the new 'Pavilion Quarter' at the heart of Aylesbury town centre, with the old Gala Bingo building set to be demolished, and some car parking spaces in the area unavailable during the work.

The brand-new district, named after the former cinema on the site, will be home to new small businesses including start-ups and will, the councl say, provide a lively and welcoming community and cultural space with potential to host events, as well as creating new routes around the town centre.

The site is where the building that formerly housed Gala Bingo currently stands. It has lain empty for a number of years and work to demolish the existing building has started. The council say they've worked hard with its contractor to minimise the disruption to residents and businesses during the demolition phase of the works; letters with information about what's happening are being delivered to neighbouring properties. Some car parking spaces in the Exchange Street car park will be blocked off during the works as part of the 'site compound' but 252 of the current 278 spaces will remain open for use, with alternative parking close by for residents and shoppers in the Upper Hundreds and Walton Street car parks.

The council say there will also be an opportunity for entertainment with the creation of a dedicated space with potential to stage music and cultural events.  It will give an overall 'lift' to Aylesbury Town Centre and is a key part of the council's work to regenerate the county's major town centres.

Following a successful grant application of £690,000 from the previous Government, under the Brownfield Land Release Funding (BLRF) work is also due to start in the coming weeks to create 46 brand new apartments at the former Old County Offices site in Aylesbury Town Centre. This development is another strand of the council's planned regeneration improvements to the Town Centre, breathing new life back into a disused building to create stylish new modern homes at the heart of Aylesbury, that will see further benefits through footfall to our local businesses and town centre. These works will be less impactful in relation to the car parking in the town centre, and again, the council is working with its contractor to keep disruption to a minimum. It will mean a few car parking spaces will be also lost at the Waterside North car park to facilitate this important project, but the majority of the car park will remain available to use.

Rachael Matthews is Buckinghamshire Council's Cabinet Member for Town Centre Regeneration. She said:

"This is an exciting step forward in these keys project for Aylesbury and I really look forward to seeing work progress on both schemes. I do recognise with the Pavilion Quarter site that there is some affection for the old building that is making way for the new development, and we will be making sure that the history of the site is reflected in the new space.

Demolishing a building in the middle of a busy town centre isn't without its challenges but I'm confident we're able to keep disruption to a minimum; we are working closely with our contractors who will be operating a considerate construction approach including keeping noisy works to permitted set hours and carefully monitoring vehicle movement. The site should be cleared by early next year, paving the way for the next phase of the work."