New Primark attracts shoppers to Corby

SHOPPERS are coming from far and wide to spend their money in Corby following the opening of the new Primark store in the town.

The number of visitors to the town was up 40 per cent on last week when the new Primark store flung open its doors on Wednesday.

A survey carried out by town centre managers Land Securities revealed people travelled from as far as Peterborough, Leicester, Wellingborough and Stamford to use the store.

And on Primark’s first Saturday, queues of traffic getting into the town added up to 20 minutes to some people’s journeys.

Land Securities centre manager Daniel Pickard said: “It’s been absolutely fantastic. Primark is an extremely popular brand for men’s, women’s and children’s clothing.

“It’s a welcome change from the doom and gloom in the news. The town’s just going from strength to strength.”

Mr Pickard said other retailers in Willow Place had seen an increase in shoppers through their doors.

Corby Council deputy leader Mark Pengelly, a manager at Busy Bee minibus hiring firm, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it. It took me 20 minutes to get to work through the traffic on Saturday. We are finding people from further afield are coming to Corby to see what it’s got to offer. It’s great for the town.”
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£5m sports hub - Envy of region

Plans to create a £5million sports hub at Rockingham Triangle to improve sport provision in Corby can be revealed for the first time today.
They include ambitious plans to open a beacon tennis facility – one of only 25 in the UK – with six new outdoor floodlit tennis courts at Corby Tennis Centre.

Just six months ago the centre was rescued from the threat of closure.

A new £1.5million sports hall with four badminton courts and the town’s only indoor cricket nets will also be built and the facilities could also be used for volleyball and basketball, sports hugely popular with the town’s growing eastern European community.

Eight new changing rooms and officials’ rooms will be constructed to encourage more children and women to play football on pitches there, and a £500,000 3G floodlit football pitch will also be provided alongside the new 1,000-seater Corby Town stadium.

A multi-purpose room will be used for dance, martial arts, health and fitness training and education, while doubling-up as a social club on match days.

And an Olympic-training standard weights room will be built to help local athletes hone their training methods.

Funding for the scheme will come from a range of grants from the council and various sporting bodies.

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Work starts on £10m rail station

Work on a £10.2m railway station for Corby in Northamptonshire has started this week.

Corby is currently the largest town in Britain without a station and the new facility will offer services to destinations including London.

Network Rail said it had appointed Dean and Dyball to build the new station.

Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route director, said: “This new rail link will give Corby the chance to take the greener option of the rail.”

See full BBC story.

JJB to open new fitness centre in Corby

Sports chain giant JJB is to create 50 jobs when it opens a new gym and swimming pool in Corby.

It has been given the go ahead to open the fitness centre next to a new sports shop on the site of the former Focus store at Phoenix Parkway shopping centre.

There will be 25 full-time members of staff and 25 part-time positions at the complex.

A joint planning application by JJB and Peel Investments, the Manchester-based firm which runs the shopping complex, was approved by Corby Council this week.

A spokesman for the company said: “There is a desperate need to reverse the decline in the general health of the population.”

“Many people in the local community would benefit from the low cost fees that JJB charge for health club membership.”

“There are no comparable private health and fitness facilities which are available to people living in the town.”

“The site is ideally placed to provide much-needed, quality, modern health and fitness facilities to a local population without any requirement to travel by private car.”

The complex will include a 20m swimming pool, steam room, cardiovascular area, weights, a dance studio, a resistance area and a spinning area.

Membership fees are designed to be relatively cheap, with a peak pass costing £36 a month, off-peak £26 and £20 for students and senior citizens.

The club would be on the ground floor of the JJB store. The company has 43 fitness centres.

More details here

Plans for £100m town development

Another section of a Northamptonshire town could be redeveloped following a £50m overhaul last year.

A plan for a £100m development has been submitted to Corby Borough Council by town centre owners, Land Securities.

The new scheme would see a department store, flats with roof gardens and an entertainment area including a multi-screen cinema built.

If the planning application is approved construction work would start at the end of 2009, Land Securities said.

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