THE PLANS for the £80million redevelopment of Cottam Hall brickworks got the thumbs up from local residents following the public exhibition of the scheme.

The results of a survey conducted at the exhibition showed that 80 percent of the local residents at the display were behind the scheme.

A number of the comments received from the public stated that it would be a good use of the land and that the area needed a new supermarket. However, there were some concerns from locals regarding traffic and access to the development.

Ian Rankin, chairman of Cottam Hall Properties, the developer behind the project commented the scheme received strong support from local residents but they have also taken on board the comments regarding possible traffic disruption. He said:

"We spoke to a large number of the residents of Cottam to get their views and opinions on the proposed redevelopment. There were a lot of positive responses from residents as the scheme would give Cottam a focal point to the area."

"The scheme has caused some excitement in the area but at the same time it has also caused some concern amongst residents regarding traffic disruption and access. We have taken all of these comments very seriously.

"Allowing for the traffic growth generated by the scheme and projecting this forward to the year 2020 there should still be spare capacity at the access route on Tom Benson Way. This has been incorporated in our planning application, which will be submitted later in May."

The Cottam Hall Brickworks scheme is anticipated to generate over 700 jobs and is one of a new generation of schemes in the UK that answers ecological, transport, leisure, business, residential and retail issues in one major redevelopment.