Victoria Shopping Centre in Southend to be given £2m revamp

Southend Council is spending an extra £2m on the Victoria Shopping Centre

More than £2m is to be spent on revamping a shopping centre where a quarter of the units were empty at the start of the year.

Southend Council is to spend the money on the Victoria Shopping Centre to help "enhance the city centre".

The council bought the shopping centre for £10m in 2020, with a view to earning rent from shops there.

It said it would now focus on a "mixed-use scheme rather than relying solely on traditional retail uses".

The council had already set aside £805,000 for 2022 to 2023 to develop the centre.

It has now proposed a new budget of £2,050,000 for refurbishment work to repair the atrium roof and the Queensway roof.

The building's façade will also be refurbished and a new goods lift will be installed, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council said the existing multi-storey car park would also be improved.

A report to the council cabinet, which met on Tuesday, said: "These works will make a significant contribution to the attraction and amenity of the Victoria Centre and improve and enhance that end of the city centre."

Paul Collins, councillor responsible for asset management and inwards investment, said since it took over the Victoria Centre, a number of new and varied business uses had opened up, including a new blood unit, indoor climbing centre, and a climate hub.

"This has been achieved despite the impacts of Covid," he said.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [e-mail]