A multi-million pound expansion of the regional shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol has been given the go-ahead despite major objections, including from Swindon Council’s economic development arm.
Forward Swindon told South Gloucestershire Council that it had not investigated the likely potential of the massive scheme on the regeneration of central Swindon. 
As a result, it said it objected strongly to the proposed scheme. The council joined with most neighbouring local authorities and owners of rival retail centres to call on South Gloucestershire councillors to refuse planning permission.
However, the council’s development committee (West) yesterday gave the green light to the £300m expansion, which will increase The Mall at Cribbs Causeway by nearly two thirds – adding an area almost the size of Swindon’s own retail centre.
Objectors to the scheme – who claims it will lead to store closures and job losses in neighbouring towns and cities – are now pinning their hopes on the Secretary of State for the Communities and Local Government ‘calling in’ the plans because of their scale and likely regional impact.
A decision has to be made within 21 days.
The plans include new shops, bars, restaurants and housing, an hotel, a new bus station, multi-storey car park and an events space.
Developers behind the scheme say it will bring huge economic benefits across the region, including 3,000 jobs during the construction phase and 3,750 permanent jobs once open.
Reports from consultants commissioned by South Gloucestershire admitted the expansion would have an impact on nearby centres, including Swindon where major regeneration of the town’s retail heart is long overdue. But they concluded that the benefits outweighed these.
South Swindon MP Robert Buckland said the issue of expansion at Cribbs Causeway required a closer look.
But he said Swindon’s retail scene had improved over the past five or six years with the arrival of John Lewis at Home while Marks & Spencer had increased its offering.
These and other measures were now attracting more shoppers into the town rather than head along the M4 to Cribbs Causeway, he said.
