£270m ski, retail and leisure destination to go ahead in Swindon
Developer SevenCapital has received full planning consent for a £270m regional leisure destination in Swindon. North Star Village will feature 500,000 sq ft of retail, dining and leisure, including one of the UK’s largest ski and snow centres, with two real snow indoor ski slopes. It will also house a 13-screen cinema, including Europe’s largest IMAX screen, along with a 19-lane bowling alley and 27,000 sq ft of trampolining.
Once operational, the development is expected to attract an annual footfall of 3.3 million people, with a projected catchment area of 10 million people reaching into Wales, the South East and South West of the country. SevenCapital hopes to be on site in May 2019 and expects the build to take a little under two years.
SevenCapital has already cemented an agreement with a major funder and secured 50% pre-lets ahead of planning consent. Confirmed operators for the North Star Village include The Snow Centre, Empire Cinemas, Hollywood Bowl and mountain sports retailer Ellis Brigham.
SevenCapital director John Watkins said: “Since taking on the project in July 2017 the team has worked tirelessly to deliver on our promises to submit plans for an exciting regional leisure and retail destination that Swindon and the wider UK will benefit from significantly. We have delivered on all our planning promises and are now looking forward to getting on site and bringing those plans to life.”