WILTSHIRE Council has ended its controversial agreement with developers ING over the Bridge Centre site in Chippenham paving the way for it to be turned into a multi-storey car park, shops and a cinema.

Council deputy leader John Thomson revealed that during the confidential part of the cabinet meeting on Tuesday it was decided not to renew its option with ING, now owned by Peveril.

Coun Thomson said: “We decided that this had gone on long enough and we need to find a new solution for this site.

“What is really needed in Chippenham is more parking in the town centre and this can be an opportunity for us to create an area with a multi-storey car park, smaller shops and an entertainment centre, possibly a cinema.”

He said that the site was complicated by being an island surrounded by main roads but thought one solution would be a walkway from the multi-storey car park similar to the one at Cabot Circus in Bristol.

Coun Thomson said he felt Chippenham was entering a new era and there was far more optimism in the town.

He said: “I think it is emerging from the shadows and is becoming much more vibrant.”

Backing for the ending of the agreement with the developers came from Chippenham MP Duncan Hames and chairman of Chippenham Area Board Linda Packard.

Mr Hames said: “I am very pleased this is happening. I have been calling for this agreement to be ended for some time.”

Coun Packard said: “This is absolutely the right thing. We need to move ahead with this site.”

An agreement between Wiltshire Council and ING was signed in December 2011 with a planning application for a Bath Road retail development anticipated in 2012.

But plans were held up by out-of-town retail space competing for big name stores. A planning application was expected to be submitted two years ago for an upmarket retail development connecting the site of the Bridge Centre with Bath Road, transforming the middle of the town.

Names on the table were Next, TK Maxx, Marks & Spencer Simply Food and Lidl. But with Next choosing to go out of town to Methuen Park, and TK Maxx following suit, anchor tenant M&S Simply Food, secured on a conditional basis, was likely to pull out.

In September a number of civic leaders called for a rethink over the Bridge Centre and Bath Road plans.

Wiltshire councillor Chris Caswill said at the time: “Unless developers Peveril can come up with an alternative model which provides the high-quality boost to the town centre we all want, they ought to seriously look at calling it in. It is a disaster.”

Coun Thomson said the council is looking for a new developer to work with.