One of the country’s most exciting new leisure developments has got the go ahead after Colchester Borough Council granted planning consent for Turnstone Estates’ £50m Northern Gateway scheme in Colchester
Set to open in 2022/3, the 200,000 sq ft project will provide a 12-screen Cineworld cinema (with Superscreen and 4DX), a Hollywood Bowl bowling centre, a Puttstars indoor mini-golf centre, a Jump Street run climbing centre; seven restaurants, two drive thru restaurants and a 90-bed hotel. In addition to parking for 750 cars, the scheme will have several electric car rapid charging points.
Chris Goldsmith, Managing Director of Turnstone Estates, said: “We would like to thank Colchester Borough Council for their support for this exciting leisure development. With the arrival of a Covid-vaccine on the horizon, we look forward to life returning to a near normal and people having a wide variety of choices to enjoy themselves once again.”
Laurence Keen of Hollywood Bowl added: “Our new Colchester Hollywood Bowl will offer a state of the art ten-pin bowling experience coupled with great casual dining and our latest amusement arcade games. We are also pleased to be bringing our new mini-golf concept, Puttstars, to Colchester. Our Puttstars centres offer a complete entertainment experience with three non-hole interactive courses alongside our unique digital scoring system that replaces the traditional pencil and scorecard method
Leader of the Council, Councillor Mark Cory, said: “Helping to boost our economy is one of our key commitments in helping our borough recover following the impact of Covid-19. This fantastic scheme will play a key part in that work by delivering significant investment into Colchester, providing both leisure facilities and the generation of additional jobs for our local community.”
Councillor David King, Portfolio Holder for Business and Resources said: “This is a real positive milestone for the new leisure development. Progress to transform the Northern Gateway into a hub for improved wellbeing, physical activity, jobs, housing and renewable energy will now continue to stride forward, I welcome this crucial investment into the borough.”
Work is scheduled to start early next year. Turnstone is being advised by Whybrow and Wareing and Partners.