UPDATE: TK Maxx moved from Wolverhampton City Centre to Bentley Bridge in October 2011.

Plans for an ASDA living store at Bentley Bridge Retail Park have fallen through, but it now looks like clothing retailer TK Maxx may open a store at the revitalised shopping park.

The Express and Star reports that the company is in talks to open a shop in November taking on a 17,000 sq ft building next door to the Dreams bed store after planners agreed to relax rules that limited what could be sold in the unit.

Sainsbury‘s were today awarded planning permission to extend their store in Rookery Street Wednesfield, despite objections from local a historian. 80 extra jobs are set to be created but a local heritage building will be demolished to make way for a car park extension.

The new 21,600 sq feet extension which is set to include a new restaurant and bakery, as well as 74 new parking spaces has been given the go ahead by planners, but will see a 19th Century heritage building demolished.

The Temperance Hall opposite Sainsbury’s dates back to the 1860s and was used by the Salvation Army before becoming a theatre and cinema, going by the name of the Tivoli.

Wednesfield Historian Ray Fellows wrote to Prince Charles concerning the plans to demolish the hall and also put forward his objections to planners.

Ray called upon the Sainsbury’s to drop their proposals to demolish the hall saying “Wednesfield as a community has suffered more than most Black Country towns from the loss of it’s ancient heritage. Delivering an innovative planning proposal which incorporates a use for the building just as Sainsbury’s did at the former St. Georges Church in Wolverhampton City Centre would be applauded.“

Mr Fellows asked Sainsbury’s whether it was possible to use the building in some way, but the company wish to demolish the hall in order to extend their car park to include a total of 472 spaces, including 29 disabled spaces and 20 parent and child spaces, an increase of 74 spaces. Motorcycle and cycle parking is also proposed.

Planners at Wolverhampton City Council ruled that although the hall was a heritage asset to Wednesfield, it was not deemed significant enough to deny Sainsbury’s proposals to demolish it.

Duncan Nimmo, Treasurer of the Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society added, “The problem is that it is not reasonable to try to preserve every bit of heritage; that would mean stagnation, and preventing new things which may become the heritage of the future.

“What is necessary is to strike the right balance between preservation and demolition. At least now this is formally recognised in the planning process, with developers required to assess any heritage damage and to justify it in terms of the benefits brought by their proposals.“

The car park extension requires the demolition of a nearby builders yard and the former Temperance Hall, with Hall Street being extinguished and incorporated into the car park.

The existing petrol station is also set to be demolished and relocated to allow for the extension of the supermarket building. The silver-lining is that extension will bring 80 new jobs to the area.

Do you think supermarkets should be allowed to demolish heritage buildings in order to increase profits? Or should planners make more effort to incorporate our history into buildings of the future? Let us know in the comments!

In related news, rumour has it that an ASDA Living store may be coming to Bentley Bridge.

Photo: Sainsbury’s

Wednesfield’s AMF bowling alley re-launches as Hollywood Bowl on Friday 27th May with lower prices and new facilities.

The former AMF site at Bentley Bridge Retail Park which only opened a couple of years ago has been refitted and includes a new arcade with a ‘play to win’ area where gamers can win tickets which they can exchange for prizes.

A brand new children’s party area with disco lighting has been created and new lighting including disco lights, lasers and neons have been installed throughout the lanes, “to make extreme bowling even more fun and exciting”.

The fully licensed bar will now be open until midnight every Friday and Saturday, with a brand new cocktail menu in place after 9pm which includes a huge bowling ball shaped pitcher to share for £7.

New Prices

Monday – Friday before 6pm (off peak)

Adults: 1 game £3.35
Under 16′s: 1 game £2.55

2 Adults + 2 Under 16′s: 1 game: £10.60
2 Adults + 2 Under 16′s: £16.00
(4 people minimum, 2 under 16′s)

Monday – Friday after 6pm + all day Saturday & Sunday (peak prices)

Adults: 1 game £4.95
Under 16′s: 1 game £3.95

2 Adults + 2 Under 16′s: 1 game £15.60
2 Adults + 2 Under 16′s: 2 games £26.00
(4 people minimum, 2 under 16′s)

Friday & Saturday from 10pm

Unlimited bowling for £10 per person from 10pm.

Morning Deals

2 games + a drink (tea/coffee/squash) for just £4.95 pp 10am-4pm – Monday-Friday

£1 games on Saturday / Sunday from 9am-11am (+ a special £1 menu during this time).

New children’s party packages are also now available.

Peak prices vary during school holidays. Special concession rates are also available.

For more information email ukbentleybridgecentre@amfbowling.co.uk or call 01902 866 760 or alternatively visit Hollywood Bowl’s website or Facebook page.

Local Police are appealing for help from the public after £175 worth of fragrances were stolen from a chemist.

The items were taken from Boots on Bentley Bridge Retail Park at around 3:30pm on Wednesday 5 January, 2011.

CCTV in the store has captured an image of a woman officers want to speak to in connection with the incident. (click on the thumbnail for a larger version)

PC Chris Russell, from Wednesfield South neighbourhood policing team, said: “We are very keen to speak to this woman and I encourage anyone who knows who she is, or indeed the woman herself, to get in touch with us.

“Anyone with any information should call Wolverhampton Police on 0345 113 5000 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Another major national retailer comes to Wednesfield’s Bentley Bridge Retail Park next year.

Retailer Next will open a new store in Bentley Bridge in March 2011.

Those interested in job opportunities can sign up for new vacancy alerts on the Next website here.

Next follows hot on the heels of Nandos which opens at Bentley Bridge on 8th December 2010.

Hello there! Now you’ve found our post about Cosmo (it’s very popular!), how about subscribing to email updates or following us on Facebook?

We post tons of info about news and events in Wednesfield and often find out first about new restaurants opening such as Cosmo and Nandos.

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TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE CALL: 01902 722233

A new Pan Asian restaurant opens in Wednesfield at Bentley Bridge Retail Park on Monday 21st June.

Restaurant chain Cosmo which owns 10 branches across the UK opens it’s newest restaurant which will serve food from China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, India and Vietnam and has created 38 new jobs in the area.

The company has been fitting out the unit since January and is offering the chance of free food and drinks to those who register for more information on their website, where you can also book a table online.

Read on for opening times and prices…

TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE CALL: 01902 722 233

Lunch

Monday to Saturday: 12:00 – 15:00

£6.50 – Adult
£3.00 – Child under 150cm
£2.00 – Minimum Charge

Dinner

Monday to Thursday: 17:30 – 22:30
£11.99 – Adult
£6.00 – Child under 150cm
£3.00 – Minimum Charge

Sunday (Bank Holiday): 12:00 – 22:30
£11.99 – Adult
£6.00 – Child under 150cm
£3.00 – Minimum Charge

Friday to Saturday: 17:30 – 23:00
£12.99 – Adult
£6.50 – Child under 150cm
£3.00 – Minimum Charge

More info on Cosmo’s website.

If you’re interested job vacancies, we suggest visiting the careers page on the Just For Pets website.

The Express and Star looks at the current success of Wednesfield’s Bentley Bridge Retail Park in this recent article.

As previously reported, national chain Cosmo is due to open it’s new Pan Asian restaurant next month which will serve food from China, Japan and Mongolia, creating 38 jobs.

JD Sports is also rumoured to be on the verge of snapping up an empty unit on the retail park, bringing more jobs to the area and becoming the 2nd sports retailer on the park.

With other units recently being filled by AMF Bowling Alley, Aldi supermarket, Pure Gym, and Just For Pets (which opens on  25th March), it would seem that Bentley Bridge is finally beginning to live up to it’s potential as a retail park worth leaving the city centre to visit, 5 years after it opened.

Let’s hope this trend continues!

As recently reported in the E&S, a new Pan Asian restaurant is set to open in Wednesfield later this year.

Restaurant chain Cosmo which owns 10 branches across the UK plans to open a new restaurant at Bentley Bridge retail park which will serve food from China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, India and Vietnam creating 38 new jobs in the area.

The company will begin fitting out the new unit this month and we will bring you opening date details as soon as we have them.

TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE CALL: 01902 72 2233

If you are interested in employment opportunities at this new restaurant please contact Cosmo directly via their website.

The blog post not only contains a detailed history of the Canal and it’s origins, but also includes ‘then and now’ photos of the Canal from 1992 before much of the re-development work in the area began.

One such photo shows the Wednesfield Junction (next to the Nickelodeon Pub) shortly before the pub and Bentley Bridge Retail Park were built.

Visit Captain Ahab’s blog for part one and part two of his fascinating article.