Plans to remove asbestos and demolish the former BHS, M&S and Job Centre buildings to be considered

12 September 2023

West Northamptonshire Council’s Cabinet will consider plans to carry necessary work to remove asbestos in 35-39 Abington Street and 20-28 Wood Street ahead of the demolition of the former BHS, M&S and Jobcentre to bring forward the regeneration scheme.

At the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 19 September, councillors will review documents to bring forward the safe removal of all asbestos from the site to enable the demolition of all buildings that form the entire site ahead of a development partner coming on board to provide a cleared site ready for the developer to begin construction.

The key project milestone follows as last month WNC completed on the purchase of a vacant former job centre located on Wood Street, adjacent to the empty stores on 35 – 45 Abington Street, which now brings all of the land for this 1.6 acre site under WNC ownership.

On 31 July, WNC launched the first stage of the procurement process and issued expression of interests to seek a development partner to bring this scheme forward. WNC will be working with potential developers to consider options for the site ahead of appointing one as our preferred development partner.

WNC were granted £9.7 million of government funding through the Town Fund scheme towards the project which has funded the acquisition of the building and the necessary preparation works. The Towns Fund is part of the Government’s plan for Levelling Up the UK economy and the Council has secured £24.9 million to invest into transforming Northampton’s Town Centre.

By removing all asbestos and carrying out the necessary demolition of the current buildings we can provide a clear site ready for the developers.

Ensuring that Northampton is a place where residents and businesses can thrive is a significant priority for us as a council, and the redevelopment of both Wood Street and 35-45 Abington Street will transform this area for our communities.

Through the densification of the site, it will bring forward new homes and flexible leisure and retail space, which will lead to increased footfall into the centre to support the existing retail offer within the wider town.Cllr Dan Lister, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and Growth at WNC

The wider regeneration of Northampton Town Centre includes the Market Square redevelopment which will see this area become a cultural hub for the town centre, and public realm works in Abington Street and Fish Street which will see the area transformed with new paving, improved seating, lighting and landscaping, and public art installations.

To keep up to date with regeneration in Northampton visit the We Are Northampton website.