Riverside Shopping Centre facing demolition to allow transformation of Shrewsbury site

Councillor Peter Nutting said that he expected the council to ask the public what they wanted to see on the site, which he said would likely be a mixed use development, rather than the previously mothballed retail plans for the centre.

The council takes possession of the Riverside, and the Darwin and Pride Hill shopping centres on January 23, having concluded a multi-million pound deal to buy the sites.

Councillor Nutting has suggested that there could be some "redesign" of the Pride Hill and Darwin Centres, with money set aside to do the work.

• What would you like to see done with the Riverside? Have your say in the comments section below.

The Copthorne Councillor said that one of the main ideas for the Riverside site would be to expand the car parking available in the town.

He said: "We are not rushing and we will stop and have a serious think about exactly what we want to do.

The two shopping centres, the Darwin and Pride Hill will carry on more or less as they do. There might be some redesign and there is money in the budget to do that.

"The Riverside is the big question. I think it will be demolished and we will start again on the whole site."

Speaking about the potential for car parking he said: "What we would like to do is have one car park across the whole site, across one level or two."

Councillor Nutting said he believed Shrewsbury will need more car parking in the future.

He said: "I believe Shrewsbury will become more and more popular and there will be more demand for car parking spaces.

The council leader said he believed that people need to have their say on what they think the future of the site should be before and decisions are made.

He said: "In my personal opinion I think we need to make a list of what we want to do on site, including a hotel, leisure facilities, restaurants, maybe pubs or things of that nature and I would like to investigate whether there is the possibility to do it around a square or a public open space in the middle."

In a statement Shropshire Council said: "Subject to the successful completion on the acquisition of the Shopping Centre’s on January 23, very little will change in the immediate future.

"The shopping centres will continue to be run through a property management company (as they are now) under the direction of the council, therefore the public will see no change in terms of their experience of the retail offer at the centres.

"Shropshire Council over the coming months will want to think through carefully its next steps in terms of the wider development opportunities and how these align with the vision for the town as articulated within the Shrewsbury Big Town Plan."